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ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 



OF THE 



American Museum of Natural 
History. 



Vol. I. Part HI. 



GROS VENTRE MYTHS AND TALES. 

BY 
A. L. KROEBER. 



NEW YORK: 

Published by Order of the Trustees. 

May, 1907. 



Wonofffanh 






.r|sl t^l 



x\ 



h 



ryc/ 



0' 



ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS 

OF THE 

American Museum of Natural History 

Vol. I, Part III. 



GROS VENTRE MYTHS AND TALES. 

By a. L. Kroeber. 

CONTENTS. 



Introduction' ....... 

Myths and Tales 

1. The Making of the Earth . 

2. Origin Myth 

3. Tebiaanta", the Two Women, the Bald Eagle, 

4. Nix'a^t obtains Summer and the Buffalo 

5. Nix'a^t is taught to call Buffalo 

6. Nix 'ant and the Mouse .... 

7. Nix 'a^t and the Mice's Sun-dance . 

8. Nix VH eats Fat 

9. Nix Vt eats Hiitceni .... 

10. Nix'a'H and the liird with the Large Arrow 

11. Nix 'a^t toses his Eyes .... 

12. Nix 'a"t kills his Wife .... 

13. Nix 'a^t and the Bear-Women . 

14. Nix'a^t and the Dancing Ducks 

15. Nix 'a"t's Adventures .... 
(a) With the Mice's Sun-dance 

(5) With the Women who loused him 

(c) With his Daughters .... 

(d) With the AVoman who crossed the River 

(e) With the Sleeping Woman 

(/) With the Buffalo he called anil the Rabbit 

16. One-eyed Owl and his Daughter 

17. The Man who went to War with his Mother-in- 

18. The Kit-fox and the Ghost 

19. Found-in-the-Grass . . .• . 

20. Clotted-Blood 

55 



nd N 



law 



"t 



P.\GE 

57 
59 
59 
59 
61 
65 
67 
68 
68 
69 
69 
69 
70 
70 
70 
71 
71 
71 
72 
73 
74 
74 
75 
75 
76 
77 
77 
82 






56 



Atithropologica! Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. I, 






21. Moon-Child 

22. The Boy who was raised by the Seven Bulls 

23. White-Stone 

24. The Women \^'ho married the Moon and a Buffalo 

25. The Women who married a Star and a Buffalo 

26. The Deserted Children 

27. The Girl who became a Bear 

28. Shell-Spitter .... 

29. Yellow-Plume and Blue-Plume 

30. The Swallows and the Snake 

31. The Origin of the Tsooyanehi Degree of the Dog-dance 

32. The Origin of the Chief Pipe 

33. Separation of the Tribe 

34. The Cave of the Buffalo . 

35. The Woman and the Black Dog 

36. The Man born from a Horse 

37. The Woman and the Horse 

38. The Little Girl who was married by a Bear 

39. The Young Man who became a Water-monster 

40. The Woman who was recovered from a Water-monster 

41. The Man who killed Hawks 

42. The Man who was killed by a Bullet-hawk 

43. The Man who was killed by a Bald Eagle 

44. The Woman who tempted and betrayed her Brother-in-law 

45. The Woman who tried to betray her Brother-in-law 

46. The Bad Wife 

47. The Man who acquired Invulnerability 

48. The Man who recaptured his Wife 

49. The Woman who married the Snake Indian 

50. The Woman who revenged her Brothers . 



Abstracts 



P.\GE 

90- 

94 
97 
100 
101 
102 
105 
108 
109 
111 
111 
112 
112 
112 
113 
113 
114 
115 
115 
117 
117 
117 
118 
118 
119 
120 
122 
125 
126 
128 
130 



INTRODUCTION. 

The Gros Ventre myths and tales herewith presented do not exhaust 
the traditions of the tribe: they include, however, the majority of the more 
important stories known to them, and are probably representative of the 
mythology and tales of the tribe. They were collected in the winter and 
early spring of 1901, at the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana, 
as part of the work of the ISlrs. Morris K. Jesup Expedition. 

Naturally there are many similarities to the Arapaho traditions. As a 
larger body of Arapaho traditions has been published with extended com- 
parative notes,^ such notes have not been added to the present Gros Ventre 
traditions; but references have been made to the corresponding Arapaho 
versions, under which the comparisons will be found. 

Among the more important Arapaho traditions and episodes which 
have a widespread distribution, but which have not yet been found among 
the Gros Ventre, are the story of the origin of death; of the woman who 
married a dog; of the young man who disguised himself us a woman, and 
cut off seven heads; of the well-known imitation of the host by the 
trickster in various ways; of the diving through the ice by the trickster to 
obtain food in imitation of his host; of the young man who was tempted 
by his sister-in-law, and then buried in a pit by her; of the turtle's war- 
party; of the deceived blind man, a favorite Eskimo and northern Atha- 
bascan tradition; and the well-known Plains story of the buffalo and elk 
women, or buffalo and corn women. The story of the girl who was born 
from the foot of a young man exists among the Gros Ventre, but was not 
obtained. It is very probable that some of these stories will be found 
among the Gros Ventre. An account of the origin of death similar to that 
of most of the Plains tribes is almost certain to exist. The story of the 
seven heads — being common to the Arapaho, Kootenai, and Sarcee, tribes 
surroimding the Gros Ventre — is also very likely to exist among them. One 
would expect the same of the story of the woman and the dog, though it is 
to be remembered, in this connection, that some of the northern Arapaho 
deny this to be a story of their tribe. 

' G. A. Dorsev and A. L. Kroeber, Traditions of the Arapaho (Field Columbian Museum 
Publications, Anthropological Series V. Chicago, 1903). 

57 



58 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol.1, 

Of the more important stories and incidents occvirring in the present 
Gros Ventre collection, but wanting in the larger Arapaho collection, the 
following may be mentioned: the separation of the tribe while crossing the 
ice; the very widespread incident of the hero who is swallowed by a monster, 
and kills him by cutting his heart ; the boy who is abandoned by his parents, 
and raised by buttalo-bulls; the tale of a young man who enters a tent among 
a hostile tribe to marry a girl; and the tale of the bad wife as told by the 
Blackfeet. 

Some of the mythical incidents that have the most common distribution 
in central North America, but that so far have not been found among either 
the Arapaho or Gros Ventre, are the story of the theft of light or the sun ; 
of the theft of, or some other means of obtaining, water; of the supernatural 
being that has been w^ounded by a human being, so that a human medicine- 
man only can extract the weapon; of the person or pursuer who crosses a 
body of water or a chasm on a leg, usually of the crane, and is shaken oft"; 
of the hero who transforms himself into a leaf or small object, which is 
drunk by a woman, as whose son he is reborn; of the bathing women 
with bird-skins, one of whom is captured; of the visit far to the east to the 
sun; of the unfaithful wife who has a snake or water-monster as her lover, 
— one of the most i)ersistent traditional ideas in northeastern America; the 
common conception of the origin of mankind or the tribe from the lower 
world or successive lower worlds; and a tradition of a visit to the land of 
the dead, other than in stories told as the actual experience of persons 
recentlv alive or still livino-. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 59 



MYTHS AND TALES. 

1. The Making of the Earth. 

There was water everywhere. A person sent the Duck, the Otter, the 
Beaver, and the Turtle to dive for earth. All the other animals lost their 
breath before they reached the bottom. They had to come up again. But 
the Turtle said, "I am the one who can get it." He dived, and brought up 
mud. When the person scattered the mud, earth was made. He made 
the mountains by pouring a little earth from his hand. He also made 
streams and trees. It is not known who he was. Perhaps he was Nix'a'H.^ 

2. Origin Myth. 

The people before the present people were wild. They did not know 
how to do anything. Nix'a"t did not like the way they lived and did. 
He thought, "I will make a new world." He had the chief pipe. He went 
out doors and hung the pipe on three sticks. He picked up four buffalo- 
chips. One he put under each of the sticks on which the pipe hung, and 
one he took for his own seat. He said, "I will sing three times and shout 
three times. After I have done these things, 1 will kick the earth, and 
water will come out of the cracks. There will be a heavy rain. There will 
be water over all the earth." Then he began to sing. After he sang three 
times, he shouted three times. Then he kicked the ground and it cracked. 
The water came out, and it rained for days, and over all the earth was water. 
By means of the buffalo-chips he and the ])ipe floated. Then it stopped 
raining. There was water everywhere. He floated wherever the wind 
took him. For days he drifted thus. Above him the Crow flew about. 
All the other birds and animals were drowned. The Crow became tired. 

1 The Gros Ventre myths and tales here recorded were obtained from seven informants, 
who have tieen designated as follows: — 

M Bill Jones, one of tlie oldest men of the tribe, Nos. 5, 18, 25, 41. 
N Watches-All. an old woman, Nos. 26, 28, 30, 32, 33, 39, 40, 45-50. 
P Flea, a yonng man, Nos. 2-4, 20-23, 29. 
Q Blackbird, an old man, Nos. 1, 6, 16, 17, 38, 42, 43. 
R .A.ssiniboine, a yoiuif; middle-aged man, Nos. 14, 15, 27, 34, 35, 37, 44. 
S Paul Plumage, a young man, Nos. 7, 19. 
T Black Wolf, a middle-aged chief, No. 33. 
It will be seen that the traditions told by Flea, one of the youngest of the informants, are 
of a higher character tlian the otliers. Nos." 7 and 19 were obtained as texts in Gros Ventre. 
All the others were reconli'd in English. 

The Gros Ventre distinguish between myths and tales, which they call ha''tii'a"tya° and 
waa"tsea'a" respectively. The first thirty of the following traditions may be regarded as myths; 
the last twenty, as tales. 

The present myth is by informant Q. Compare Traditions of the Arapaho, op. cit., tales 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, and "note, p." 6. 

Pronoimce x like German ch or Spanish j; to, like English ch: a, as in English bad; a° 
(nasal a), like French an; a", similarly nasalized; g, like English th in thin; 6, nearly as in 
German. 



GO Anthropological Papers American Muscinn of A'aturnl History. [Vol. I, 

It flew about crying, "My father, I am becoming tired. I want to rest." 
Three times it said this. After it had said so three times, Nix'a"t said, 
"AHght on the pipe and rest." Repeatedly the Crow cried to him, and 
each time was allowed to alight on the pipe. Xix'a"t became tired sitting 
in one position. He cried. He did not know what to do. After he had 
cried a long time, he began to unwrap the chief pipe. The pipe contained 
all animals. He selected those with a long breath to dive through the water. 
First he selected the Large Loon (biias^eiby^ii). The Loon was not alive, 
but Nix'a"t had its body wrapped up in the pijie. Xix'a"t sang, and then 
commanded it to dive and try to bring mud. The Loon dived. It was 
not halfway down wlien it lost its breath and immediately turned back. 
It came up almost drowned at the place where Nix'a'^t was. Then Nix'a"t 
took the Small Loon's body and sang. Then the Small Loon dived. It 
nearly reached the mud at the bottom. Then it lost its breath and went 
up again, and, nearly dead, reached the place where Nix'a"t was. Then 
he took the Turtle (baii'n). He sang and it became alive, and he sent it 
and it dived. Meanwhile the Crow did not alight, but flew about crying 
for rest. Nix'a'H did not listen to it. After a long time the Turtle came uj). 
It was nearly dead. It had filled its feet and the cracks along its sides 
with mud. When it reached Nix'a"t, all the mud had been washed away 
and it was nearly dead. Nix'a"t said, "Did you succeed in reaching the 
mud?" The Turtle said, "Yes, I reached it. I had much of it in my feet 
and about my sides, but it all washed away from me before I came to you." 
Then Nix'a"t said to it, "Come to me;" and the Turtle went to him. 
Nix'a'H. looked at the inside of its feet and in the cracks of its sides. On 
the inside of its feet he found a little earth. He scraped this into his hand. 
JNIeanwhile the Crow had become very tired. Then Nix'a'H, when he had 
scraped the earth into his hand, began to sing. After he had sung three 
times, he shouted three times. Then he said, "I will throw this little dust 
that I have in my hand into the water. I>ittle by little let there be enough 
to make a strip of land large enough for me." Then he began to drop it, 
little by little, into the water, opening and closing his hand carefully. And 
when he had dropped it all, there was a little land, large enough for him 
to sit on. Then he said to the Crow, "Come down and rest. I have made 
a little j)iece of land for myself and for you." Then the Crow came down 
and rested. After it had rested, it flew u]) again. Then Xix'a"t took out 
from his pipe two long wing-feathers. He had one in each hand, and began 
to sing. After he had sung three times, he shouted three times, "Youh, 
hou, hou," and sjiread his arms, and closed his eyes. When he had done 
this, he said to himself, "Let there l)e land as far as my eyes can see around 
me." When he opened his eyes, then indeed there was land. After he 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 61 

had made the land, there was no water anywhere. He went about with 
his pipe and with the Crow. They were all that there was to be seen in the 
world. Now Nix'a'^t was thirsty. He did not know what to do to get water. 
Then he thought, "I will cry." He cried. While he cried, he closed his 
eyes. He tried to think how he could get water. He shed tears. His 
tears dropped on the ground. They made a large spring in front of him. 
Then a stream ran from the spring. When he stopped crying, a large river 
was flowing. Thus he made rivers and streams. He became tired of 
being alone with the Crow and the pipe. He decided to make persons and 
animals. He took earth, and made it into the shape of a man. He made 
also the shape of a woman. Then he made more figures of earth, until 
he had many men and women. When he thought he had enough persons, 
he made animals of all kinds in pairs. Wlien he had finished making 
these shapes, he named the tribes of people and the kinds of animals. Then 
he sang three times and shouted three times. After he had shouted, he 
kicked the ground, and there were living pairs of beings standing before 
him, animals and men. The reason why men are dark in color is that 
earth is dark. Nix'a"t called the world Turtle because the Turtle was the 
animal that had helped him to make the world. Then he made bows 
and arrows for men, and told them how to use them. The pipe he gave 
to a tribe which he called haa'ninin (the Gros Ventre). Then he said to the 
people, "If you are good and act well, there will be no more water and no 
more fire." Long before the water rose, the world had been burned. This 
now is the third life. Then he showed them the rainbow, and said to them, 
"This rainbow is the sign that the earth will not be covered with water 
again. Whenever you have rain, you will see the rainbow; and when 
you see it, it will mean tliat the rain has gone by. There will be another 
Avorld after this one." He told the ])eople to separate in pairs and to select 
habitations in the world for themselves. That is why human beings are 
scattered.^ 

3. Tebiaa^'ta^", the Two ^VoMEx, the Bald Eagle, 
AND Nix'A^t. 

There was a lone tent. Two sisters lived in it. One was older, the 
other young. Tebiaa"ta^ ("cut-off-head") knew that the two women 
lived alone there. One morning, one of them went out to get wood. In 
front of the tent she found a fat deer, freshly killed and untouched. This 



1 Told by informant P. Compare Arapaho, op. cit., Nos. 1, 2, 3, 6, and note. p. 6. For the 
recession of the water before stretched arms, compare also Arapaho, No. 5. The idea of the 
previous race occurs in Arapaho, No. 6, p. 15, footnote, and in No. 129, p. 299. 



62 AnthropuliHjical Papers Atnerican Museum of Xatural History. [\'ol. I, 

happened every night. The fourth night the two women watched. One 
of them said, "Perhaps it is Naxaa"tsts' ('with-projecting-teeth,' another 
name for Tebiaa^ita"). If it is he, it will go hartl with us, for he is powerful." 
In the middle of the night they saw a person rolling a dead deer toward 
them. When he came near they saw that it was Tebiaa"ta" indeed. After 
he had left the deer he went off again. As soon as he had gone, the two 
women began preparations to fiee. The older stuck an awl in the ground 
on the side of the tent where she had her bed, and said to it, "When Te- 
biaa"ta" comes in, tell him, 'Go to my younger sister. She is young, and is 
the one whom you ought to have for your best wife.' " The younger sister 
stuck a quill-flattener (isowa") at the side of her bed, and told it, "When 
Tebiaa"ta» comes rolling to you, say to him, 'Go to the older woman. Siie 
knows best how to work. You should have her for your best wife.'" At 
night Tebiaa"ta'^ came to the tent. The women had gone. Only the awl 
and the quill-flattener were there. When he arrived, he saw the deer 
lying there, still untouched. He became angry, and said, "I worked hard 
to kill this deer for you. It is bad that you did not touch it." He went 
mside. The two bones looked like women. He went to the side where 
the older sister's awl Avas. It said to him, "Roll to my younger sister. 
She will be your best wife, for the older wife does the work for the tent and 
for her husband." Then he began to roll to the younger sister's bone. It 
said to him, "Roll back to my older sister. Let her be your best wife. I 
am young, and better able to move around quickly, and can do more work 
about the tent." Then Tebiaa'Ha" became angry. He rolled violently 
to one to strike her. The woman disappeared, and he struck the awl, 
wliich pierced his face so that he cried out in pain. The other woman 
disappeared at the same time. W'hen he had pulled the awl from his face 
he said, "You will not escape from me. I will kill you." He jumped 
out of the tent, looked, and smelled about to find where the women had 
gone. He found their trail, and rolled after them. They were already 
far away. They looked bac-k constantly, fearing that he would follow them. 
Then, from the direction in which they had come, they saw^ him rolling. 
One of them said to the other, "Oh, my older sister, what shall we do! 
Tebiaa'Ha" is rolling on our trail. What shall we do to escape him? Do 
something supernatural." "I will try something," said the older. "I 
will try to delay him so that we shall leave him far behind us. Let it be 
foggy before Tebiaa"ta", so that he will lose our tracks." Then there was 
a fog between them and the head, and he lost their trail and strayed from 
It. He looked for it, and after a time found it again, and followed them. 
Then they saw him coming once more. Then the older sister said to the 
younger, "Pity me, my younger sister. The head is pursuing us again 



1907.] Kroeher, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 63 

What shall we do to flee from him ? Now it is your turn to do something 
supernatural, so that we may leave him behind us." "Yes, I will try. 
Let there be a deep ravine between him and us. Let it be boggy and 
hummocky, so that it will be long before he passes through it." Then there 
was such a valley behind them. When Tebiaa^ta" got into the valley, he 
struck the hummocks, and bounded back and stuck in the swamp. It was 
long before he crossed, and the women had got far ahead. He said to him- 
self, "These women will not hide in a hole anywhere. If they do, I shall 
overtake them and kill them. They shall not go to the sky, for if they go to 
the sky, I shall not be able to reach them. That is the one place in which I 
cannot kill them." After a while the women saw him again, and the 
younger one said, "My older sister, do something supernatural again! I 
am getting tired." "Yes," said the older, "I will try. Let there be a river 
between us and the head, and along it let there be thick thorny brush, and 
rose-brush as thick as can be, so that Tebiaa"ta" will have great difficulty in 
passing through." Then there were a river and thorny brush behind them. 
Tebiaa"ta" came up. It was very difficult for him to pass. He was all 
scratched when he got through. The women were already far away. After 
a while they saw him on their trail again. Then the older sister begged the 
younger to use her supernatural power to delay the head. Her younger 
sister said, "I will try again to bring something between us and the head. 
Let there be cactus as thick as can be." Then there was a dense cactus 
behind them. When Tebiaa"ta" reached the cactus, he stop])ed. He tried 
to roll around, but it extended indefinitely. Then he thought, "I will go 
through." Then he really rolled through it; but he was full of spines, and 
bleeding. He stopped and pulled out all the cactus-spines. Then he 
followed the women again. They saw him coming. Both of them said, 
"I can do nothing more supernatural. I have done all. We must try to 
run." As they ran, they saw a man sitting on a high bunk. He liad his 
iiair in a large knot above his forehead. When they reached him they 
said, "Please ])ity us. We are running for our lives from the person who 
pursues us to kill us." "Run around me four times," he said, and they 
did so. "What is the person's name?" he asked. They said to him, 
"Tebiaa"ta"." "That is bad. He is more powerful than L But I 
will try." He loosened the knot of hair on his forehead. It had never 
been combed. The hair covered him entirely. He hid one of the women 
under each arm. W'hen Tebiaa'Ha" came, he said, "Have you seen my 
prey going by here?" "Yes, they have just pa.ssed by," said the man. 
The head went on, and smelled. Finding no tracks, he came back to the 
man. "They never went by here," he said. "Yes, they went by," said 
the man; and the head went on again. As ^oon as he was out of sight. 



64 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. \Yo\. I, 

/ the man said to the women, "Run over there, where there is a Bald Eagle. 

y Perhaps he will help you." Then Tebiaa'Ha'^ came back and said to him, 

/ "Tell me this time where my prey is." "I have told you," said the man. 

The head looked around and saw the women's tracks. He folio ^^ved them 
again. The older sister said, "Now, my younger sister, try to run as hard 
as you can. Tebiaa"ta" is on our trail again." They reached the Bald 
Eagle. "Bald Eagle," they said, "pity us, because we are poor: try to 
save our lives." The Eagle said, "Go around me four times. I will help 
you. I will try to save you from Tebiaa'Ha"; but he is very powerful. 
j Now each of you get on one of my wings and shut your eyes." He flew 

( down from the bank where he had been sitting, dived into the water, swam 

/ underneath a long distance, came up again, and flew off. Tebiaa"ta" 

came there, dived into the water, swam under it, emerged, and followed 
/ their trail. He fiew after them through the water and the air. He nearly 

caught the Eagle. When he came too near, the Eagle swooped aside. 
Thus they fought and dodged for a long time. Below where they were 
strug-gling; there was a tent. It was Nix'a'H's tent. His two sons were 
lying flat on their backs, looking iip into the sky. They began to see what 
was going on there. Whenever the head nearly toviched the Eagle, the 
boys cried "Wuuu!" Nix'a"t heard his boys crying "Wuuu," and saw 
them looking up in the air. He went outside, lay down on his robe, looked 
( up, and cried "Wuvm!" But he saw nothing. The boys asked him, 

' "Father, why did you say that?" "I like to say that, because you boys 

/ say it. What are you looking at above?" "Father, we are looking at your 

j friend the Eagle. He is dodging about. On each of his wings sits a woman, 

j Tebiaa"ta" is pursuing them." "I am sorry," said Nix 'a'^t. "Tebiaa'Ha'^ 

j is powerful. Nevertheless I will try to do something for the Eagle and the 

j women. Therefore, my sons, gather wood as fast as you can, and I will 

I cut willows and build a sweat-house. Also gather stones, and then light 

the wood and heat the stones in the fire." Nix'a"t got willows, bent them 
round, and covered them with robes. Then he gave each of his boys a 
club. He said to one, "Stay here at the door and hold it up." To the 
other one he said, "Stand at the back and hold up the robes there." The 
boys stood at their places. Nix'a"t stood at the entrance of the sweat-house, 
and cried, "Bald Eagle, come down and sweat in my sweat-house." Four 
times he cried it. Then the Eagle heard him and came flying down. 
Nix'a'^t said to him, "Go in at the entrance, and fly out at the other end." 
The head was now close at the Eagle's tail. The Eagle flew in, and out 
again. As soon as he had gone through, the boy at the back of the sweat- 
house put down his robes. The other one closed the door. Tebiaa'^ta'^ 
was caught in the sweat-house. Hot stones were lying in a small pit in the 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 65 

centre of the sweat-house. Xix'a"t poured water through a small hole 
in the top straight on the hot rocks. It steamed inside. Whenever the 
head pressed against the robes, the boys struck him Avith their clubs. At 
last he was killed. The Eagle sat there breathing hard. Thus Tebiaa^ta'^ 
was killed.^ 

4. Nix'a^'t obtains Summer and the Buffalo. 

Nix'a"t was on his way, going visiting. He arrived at a camp. There 
was deep snow, and the people had nothing to eat. To whatever tent he 
went, he got nothing to eat. The people had nothing. He asked them, 
"Why do you not try to do something to obtain food?" "We cannot 
do it," they said. "There are no buffalo. We starve. There is only 
one old woman who has food. She is very stingy of it." At some distance 
there lived an old woman who kept the buffalo. She gave no food. Nix'a'H 
said, "I will try to make the old woman give up her food." Walking about 
the camp, he saw a boy, a chief's son, just old enough to speak. He took 
the boy by the shoulders and said, "Child, are you hungry?" "Yes, I am 
Inmgry," said the boy. "Would you like to see large herds of buffalo?" 
"Yes." "Would you like to see the ground bare?" "Yes. I am be- 
coming tired of playing on the snow. I should like to see the bare ground, 
so that I could play on it." "When I let you go, you must run to your 
father's tent, and cry. When your kin ask you, you must say nothing, but 
continue to cry. Only when I come and ask you, you must say, 'I should 
like to see large herds of buffalo and the bare ground to play on; for I am 
tired of the snow.'" Then the boy ran to his father's tent and began to 
cry. All asked him why he cried. But he said no word, crying continually. 
He cried day and niglit. His father thought he would invite man after 
man in the camp to ask the boy why he cried. He asked all the men to 
come. But the boy never answered. Then he thought, "I will ask Nix'a'^t. 
He is wise. Perhaps he will persuade the boy to tell why he is crying." 
Then he called, "Nix'a"t!" and Xix'a"t came in. He took the boy in his 
aniiS and said, "Well, jxjor child, what are you crying about? Your 
j)arents can hardly sleep, because you continually cry. You must be crying 
about something that is very hard. I want you to tell me what it is." Then 
the boy stopped crying, and said, "I cry because I am hungry, and should 
like to see large herds of buffalo. I should like to eat back-fat (nanii) and 
unborn calves. I should like to see the bare ground, for I am tired of play- 



> Told by informant P. Compare Arapaho, Nos. 5, 6, 35, 124. The Magic Flight is found 
also in No. 27. Compare note to Arapaho, No. 6. See, also. No. 26 for the calling back of the 
ipursuer. The pursuit by a round rolling object is found in Arapaho, Nos. 5, 6, 33-35, 81-124. 



66 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

ing in the deep snow." Then Nix'a'H said to him, "You shall have what 
you want. You shall eat calves and fat from the back, and shall play on 
the bare ground." The boy was satisfied, and cried no more. Nix'a"t 
said to the boy's father, "Get an old man to cry out, 'Let the people move 
elsewhere. Nix'a"t has found out from the boy what he wants and what 
he cried for."' Then the people moved camp, and Nix'a'H changed into a 
little dog. The dog was scabby, with loose hanging ears. He remained 
at the camp-site after the people had left it. The old woman who kept the 
buffalo had a little grand-daughter who worked for her. The little girl 
said, " Grantlmother, I want to go to the camp-site to pick up things that 
have been lost." But the old woman said, "No, don't. Nix'a'H was in 
the camp. He is very deceitful." "I will not go far, only to the nearest 
tent. Let me go!" Then the girl went there. When she arrived, she saw 
the dog, who wagged his tail at her. She pitied him, and said "I will raise 
him." She took him back with her. "Grandmother, I have found a poor 
scabby dog. I want to raise him to be my dog," she said. The old woman 
.said to the dog, "You are a scabby dog indeed! You are not a dog at all. 
You are Nix'a"t." Then she said to her grand-daughter, "No, I do not 
want you to take this dog into the tent. Tie him outside." So the girl 
tied him outside, but fed him well; and he became fat, and his scabs fell off, 
and he grew fast. Soon he was able to carry a load of wood on a travois. 
The girl used to take him with her into the woods. At last the old woman 
began to think that he was really a dog. She allowed him to come into the 
tent with them. But at times she still looked at him suspiciously. Some- 
times she still said, "You look like a dog; but you are no dog. You are 
•Nix'a'H." After a time their meat was all gone. At the back of the tent 
hung an untanned buffalo-skin. The girl raised this, and the dog saw a 
hole beyond. Soon a young buffalo-cow came out. Just as she emerged, 
the old woman struck her on the back of the head with her hammer, and 
killed her. Many other buffalo tried to come out; Init the girl and the old 
woman put the skin down again. They pulleil out the young cow, and 
skinned her. The dog was there with them. The old woman had begun 
to like him. She now thought that he was really a dog. By the skin 
curtain there was an old greasy skin sack. The dog saw the old woman go 
to this, take a pinch from it, and throw it outside. Thereupon there was 
no snow about the door. Now Nix'a'H knew what to do. One day the 
girl took him far out into the Avoods with her. Then he turned into Nix'a'H. 
He said to the girl, "You thought me a dog, but I am Nix'a'H." Penem 
monstravit et ei raptje vim attulit. Puella fortiter clamavit, "Avia, Nix'a'H 
mecum copulat!" The old woman answered, "I told you he was Nix'a'H. 
You would not believe me. It is your own fault." Taking her hammer. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 67 

she ran towards them. When she arrived, Ni.x'a'H released the girl, ran 
off, and entered the tent. He seized the bag and ran into the hole behind 
the curtain. There he turned dog again, and, bai'king, drove all the buffalo 
out. The last one to emerge was a bull. Nix'a"t ejus in testiculis adhsesit. 
Taurus cum testes suos tactos sensisset, eos in corpus retraxit, ita ut Nix'a"t 
sub ventre celatus est. Thus he passed out by the old woman without 
being seen. As the buffalo ran, he threw out what was in the bag. Every- 
where the snow disappeared, and it was summer. When the bag was 
emptied, he went back to the old woman, threw her the bag, and said, 
"That is all I wanted from you." Thus Nix'a"t obtained buffalo and 
summer. Then he killed a cow and took the unborn calf, and cut the 
cow's back-fat and the tongue and some of the entrails. He carried this 
meat on his back, following the trail of the people. He reached their camp 
at night. Then he asked, "Where is the tent of the boy's father?" Being 
shown it, he went there and entered, called the boy, and said to him, "Here 
is what you asked for. Now eat it. To-morrow you will see summer and 
large herds of buffalo." Then the boy's father told an old man to go out 
and cry, "Nix'a"t has come back. You will see herds of buffalo and the 
summer to-morrow. He has brought some parts of buffalo to show that it 
will be so." That night there was a strong Chinook wind. That is why 
now we sometimes get the Chinook winds. Next morning, indeed, the 
peoj)le saw the bare land and herds of buffalo.^ 

5. Nix'.Ot is taught to call Buffalo. 

A certain man, when he was visited and had no food, would go on a 
liill, sit down, and sing, " Hi'itana" wu'katyli." Then the buffalo would 
come running toward him in strings. Xix'a"t came to him and cried, 
wisiiing to learn the song. The man gave him the song, but said, "Do not 
use it too often. Sing it only when you need buffalo." Nix'a"t started 
off". Soon he sat down and sang. Then the buffalo came toward him in 
strings. He sang fom* times. The fourth time the buffalo did not stop 
approaching him, and all lay down on him. Cum ano solum eminente 
cuberet, lepus qui venisset cum eo copula vit. Nix'a"t denique cum emer- 
sisset abiit. Lepusculos qui profugerunt inquinans peperit. Ssepius ita 
cum accideret, Nix'a"to displicebat. Togse margini lapides imposuit, 
inquinavit, exsiliit, et ut lepores interficeret pedibus togam protrivit. Sed 
solum toffam foedavit.^ 



1 Told by informant P. Compare Arapaho, Nos. 122, 133. 

- Told by informant M. Compare No. 15, and Arapaho, Nos. 32, 33. 



68 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [\'ol. I, 

G. Xix'a^'t axd the Mouse. 

Nix'a"t cum femiuam trans flumen dormientem vitleret, ab mure ut 
penem ad eam portaret petiit. Mus penem transportavit, sed terrfe asperse 
parti anteposuit, ita ut Nix'a"t penem vagina? inserere cum vellet se 
Iffisit et clamavit.^ 

7. Xix'a^'t and the Mice's Sun-dance. 

Nix'a"t was travelling. As he went, he heard the noise of the sun- 
dance. Then he stopped. He wanted to hear where the noise of the dance 
came from. He could not discover it. Where he stood, there lay an elk- 
skull. He sat down on it. When he sat down, he heard the noise of the 
dance clearly. "Ya! This must be the place, and I was looking for it 
at a distance." Then he looked into the skull, and saw the mice holding 
a sun-dance. As he looked in, he said to the hole through which he looked, 
"Become larger!" Then it grew larger. As often as he told it to stretch, 
it stretched. Finally he succeeded in thrusting his head through, and the 
mice scattered and ran out. Then his head stuck fast in the skull. Nix'a"t 
began to cry, because he did not know what to do. He could not even see. 
He got up and wandered off. He struck something with his foot, and said, 
"Who are you?" "I am a cherry-tree," it answered. "Indeed! I 
must be near the river," said Nix'a"t. And he continued to feel about him 
with his feet. When he touched something he said, "What are you?" 
"I am a cottonwood," it said to him. "Indeed! I must be very near the 
river," said Nix'a"t, and went on. Again he felt something with his foot, 
and said, "What are you?" "I am a willow," it said to him. "Indeed! 
I must be very close to the river now." Then he walked very carefully. 
In spite of all his care, he felt himself falling. "What are you?" he asked. 
Then it splashed, and he floated down the stream. He came floating to 
where there was a camp. People were swimming there. As soon as the 
swimmers saw him, they said, "Look out, there comes a bax'aa" (water- 
monster)," and all ran on the bank. When he had floated near them, he 
said, "I allow only girls to get me." Then two girls went into the water 
on each side of him, and caught his horns. Then they pulled him to shore. 
One of them went ashore, liut he caught the other and lay with her. As 
soon as the others saw him seize her, they ran back to the camp. "Ejus 
virginitatem Nix'a'H violat," omnes clamaverunt. Puelltie mater malleinii 
portans ad eum decucurrit. Adhuc puellfe concubebat. In dorsum eum 

1 From informant Q. Compare Arapaho, Nos. 29-31. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 69 

percussit. Nix'a^t dixit, "Tua percussio meis impetibus in filiam tuam 
vim majorem dat. The place where you can kill me is in the middle of the 
heatl." The woman struck the top of his head, and broke the elk-skull. 
Xix'a"t got up and ran. All the women pursued him, but could not catch 
him.^ 

8. Nix'a^t eats Fat. 

Nix'a"t found some fat floating in the stream. He asked, "How much 
does one bite off you when he meets you?" "A little piece only, alioquin 
diarrhceam segrescas." Nix'a"t bit off as much as he could. Then he 
went ahead down stream, and again met the fat. He asked it and was told 
the same, but again bit off all he could swallow. He met it repeatedly, 
until at last he swallowed it all. Tum abiit. Cito diarrhoea afflictatus est, 
Tantum inquinavit ut abire coactus est. Iterum cum inquinaret tanta 
excrementa defluxerunt ut eum abegerunt. Denique dum semper inqui- 
navit in tumulum ascendit. Inquinare continuavit donee defluxus eum 
circumdederat et quasi insulte tumulo institit.^ 

9. Xix'a^t eats Hiitceni. 

Nix'a'H radices quje hiitceni appellantur edebat. Diu edebat. Tum 
crepuit. Cum creparet, sursum jactus est. Perpetuo altius jactus est. 
Tandem mulierem liberosque suos omnibus cum rebus familiaribus in se 
ponere jussit ut terra retineretur. Sed cum iterum crepuisset omnes sur- 
sum pulsi sunt.^ 

10. Xix'a^t and the Bird with the Large Arrow. 

Nix'a"t met a Bird which had an immense arrow. He taunted it, 
saying that it was not able to use the arrow. At last the Bird said, "Well, 
I will shoot you with it." Nix'a"t went off. Several times he stopped, 
tiiinking he had gone far enough. But the Bird always told him, "Go 
farther, for I will kill you if you stand so near." Then at last the Bird shot 
and the arrow came flying. Nix'a"t was frightened, ran, turned, and 
dodged, but could not escape the arrow. He ran as hard as he could, but 
it came nearer and nearer. He took refuge behind a rock. The arrow 
I struck the rock and turned it over, so that it rolled on Nix'a"t. He could 
not get out. At last the Night-hawk came flying by. It shot past the 

' From informant S. Compare No. 15, and Arapaho, Nos. 52, 53. 

2 Compare Arapaho, No. 34. 

3 Compare Arapaho, p. 60, footnote 1. Pronounce tc like English ch. 



70 Anthropological Papers Aynerican Museum of Natural History. [^ ol. I, 

rock, venting wind each time. The fourth time, it broke the rock. Nix'a"t 
got up. "Come here," he said to the Bird. The Night-hawk came to 
him. Nix'a"t took it, and said, "Why did you do that to me? I was very 
comfortable tnider the rock." Then he pulled the Night-hawk's mouth 
wide open.' 

11. Nix'a^'t loses his Eves. 

Nix'a'H met a Bird that was sending its eyes into a tree. Then he cried, 
and begged the Bird, until at last it gave him the power. It told him, 
"You must do this only when it is necessary." Nix'a'H went off. He 
tried his new power, and his eyes successfully left him and returned to him. 
After a time they remained in a tree. He could not get them back. Then 
he cried. A INIouse came to him, and Nix'a"t asked it to lend him its eyes. 
The Mouse lent him its eyes, and Nix'a"t was able to find his own. But 
his own eyes had already shrivelled on the tree. He soaked them in water 
until thev swelled. Then he put tliem back in his head.- 

12. Nix'a^t kills his Wife. 

Nix'a'H was out on the prairie, crying for his wife, who had died. A 
man came to him, and asked, "Why do you cry?" He was accompanied 
by his Avife. Nix'a"t told him, "I am mourning for my wife, who has died." 
Then the stranger motioned with a stick as if to strike his wife. The fourth 
time, he struck her. Then she turned into two women. He gave one of 
them to Nix'a"t. Then Nix'a"t was glad. He went on with his new wife. 
He found a man crying for his dead wife. Then he motioned four times, 
and struck his wife and doubled her, and gave the man one of the women. 
He found another man, and a third, and gave them wives. Then he met a 
fourth man who was crying for his wife. Nix'a"t motioned, and, when 
he had motioned four times, he struck his wife on the head. Then she 
fell dead. 

13. Nix'a^'t axd the Bear-Womex. 

The myth of Nix'a'H's diving for the reflection of fruit in the water, 
and of his adventures with the Bear-Women, is found among the Gros 
Ventre as among the Arapaho, with only the following differences. Nix'a"t 
found berries, not plums. He climbed on top of the tent, and from there 
dropped the berries down inside. While the Bear-Women were eating 
their own children, thev sent one little girl out to get wood for the fire. 



1 Compare Arapaho, Nos. 19 and 33. ^ Compare Arapaho, Xos. 16, 17. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 71 

Nix'a"t said, "I will get it," and went out. Then he threw wood into the 
door until it was blocked. Then he ran, calling, "I have made you eat 
your own children." The dialogue about the flint-birds, fire-birds, and 
smoke-birds, is missing. In all other details, the Gros Ventre version 
resembles the Arapaho.^ 

14. Xix'a^'t axd the Daxcixg Ducks. 

Nix'a"t was going along the river in the thick timber. Then he came 
to an opening in the woods. There he stopped and thought what to do. 
He sat with his head down. Suddenly he stood up. He shouted loudly, 
■"AH ducks, prairie-chickens, and cottontail-rabbits come here! I will 
make a dance for you." Then the birds came flying to him, and the rabbits 
ran up. He made them all stand in a circle and close their eyes. He said, 
*'You must keep your eyes shut when you dance." Then he sang, and 
they danced. He began to break the birds' necks. INIeanwhile he sang, 
■"As you dance, you must not look!" At last a little prairie-chicken dancing 
at the end opened its eyes and saw him. It flew up crying, "Nix'a°t is 
killing you all!" Then the remaining birds all flew off and the rabbits ran 
away. Nix'a"t said, "Nix'a"t always accomplishes what pleases him. 
Nix'a'H is always fortunate. Now he has a feast." Then he made a fire. 
He put the ducks and prairie-chickens and rabbits that he had killed into 
the ashes under the coals. Then he said, "Nix'a"t is sleepy. I think I 
will sleep." Ano jussot, "Wake me if any one comes." Then he w^ent to 
sleep. Wolves and coyotes came. They smelled around. They ate all 
the meat, and left only the bones. At last Nix'a"t woke up. He coughed. 
He said, "Now I shall have a feast." He found only bones. He looked 
all around. There was nothing left. Ano suo dixit, "I told you to move 
and wake me if any one came." He took a firebrand, and suum anum 
attrivit. Tantum dolore aft'ectus est ut ano eminente cuberet ut ventus 
eum refrigeraret.^ 

15. Nix'a^t's Advextures. 

(a) With the Mice's Sun-dance. 

Nix'a"t was out on the prairie. Then he heard a noise. He said, 
* 'There must be a camp near by." He ran one way, listening, then 
another. But he always came back to the same place. He stood on a 
skull in order to look about. Then the noise was under his feet. He 
looked in, and saw people dancing. There were men, women, and children. 

1 Compare Arapaho, No. 49, also 50. 

2 Told by informant R. Compare Arapaho, Nos. 26, 27. 



72 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatia^al History. [Vol. I, 

Thev were mice that were making the sun-dance. Xix'a"t watched the 
dance. He Avanted to see. He continually told the opening of the skull 
to stretch wider. It became large enough for him to look in with both his 
eyes. i\s he continued to look, he liked the dance better. He tokl the hole 
to stretch wider. He wanted to get to the women inside. At last the hole 
stretched over his head. It contracted around his neck. The Mice ran 
out. Nix'a"t could not get his head out from the skull. He wandered 
about. He asked the trees and bushes what they were. He came to sage- 
brush, then to a rosebush. Then he came to a large Cottonwood. When 
he found this he said, "I am still at a distance from the river." Then he 
came to a birch. He said, "That is the kind of tree with many kidneys on 
it." Next he came to a young Cottonwood. Then he said, "Now I am 
near the river." Then he came to the small willows, and then he fell down 
the bank into the river. He went down with the current. He came floating 
to women and girls who were bathing. He said, "I will give beads to 
whomever pulls me ashore." [The tale continues like No. 7, until the elk- 
skull is split from his head.] Then he got up and ran off, all the women 
running after him. He said, "I wish there were a hole I could enter.'^ 
Then there was a hole and he went in. He came out on the other side. 
He found white clay. He put some over his right eye. He took a stick, 
peeled the bark off so that it looked white, and laid it across his arm. Then 
he went back to where the women were, and asked them what they were 
doing. They told him. Then he abused Nix'a"t. He said, "He is 
always doing such things. Why do you not dig him out ? Then you can 
pound him to pieces." Then all the women crawled into the hole. He 
blocked the entrance with wood, and set it on fire. Then he smothered 
them . 

(b) With the Women ichn loused him. 

Then he went on to the river. As he went along he saw two pretty 
young women. They sat lousing each other. He said, "That is a nice 
thing they are doing." He pretended to scratch his head and catch and 
bite his lice. "I have too many lice," he said. Then he said, "Do you 
not want to louse me?" They said, "Yes." Then they sat opposite to 
each other, stretching out their legs, and told him to lay his head on their 
laps. Then he was satisfied. Soon he went to sleep. They took burrs, 
and filled his hair with them. They went off. The burrs made his hair 
stretch. They pulled the skin of his fprehead up. Then he sat up. He 
could hardly close his eyes. At last he cut off all his hair. Then he cov- 
ered himself with mud, and went home, crying. His wife saw him coming. 
She said, "There comes the fool! He has been doing something again.'* 



1907-1 Kroeber, Gros Ventre Mijths and Tales. 73 

AYlien he was at a little distance, he began to cry harder. At last she 
became impatient and went out to him. Then he said, "Those bad peo- 
ple who visited me! They told me, 'Your wife is dead.'" Then he kissed 
his wdfe. 

(c) With his Daughters. 

After he had been at his tent a while, he pretended to be sick. He 
would not eat, and became very thin. He had two daughters. They 
were unmarried, and young and pretty. Now Xix'a'H seemed nearly dead. 
Then he said, "Old woman, I shall leave you soon. There are those skin- 
scrapers, and sleighs of ribs, and stone hammers, which I made for my 
daughters. I want them buried with me. Put me into that crooked tree 
here. Do not tie me: only wrap me in my robe, and put those things in with 
me. There is a man called One-eyed Owl. He always has white clay 
over his right eye. He carries a sharp tomahawk (kaahaanou). Give 
him both my daughters when he comes, and put up a tent for him. Give 
them to no one but him." Then he became worse, and died. His wife 
and daughters mourned for him. They cried. They buried him as he 
had said. He lay in the tree for four days. Then a coyote passed. Nix'a'H 
called it and said, "Howl, and call all the coyotes and wolves." The 
coyote sat down and howled until they all came. Nix'a"t broke all the 
skeletons that were there, and scattered them about. He broke and scat- 
tered the im])lements that were buried with him. Then he said to the 
wolves, "Now howl, 'We have eaten Nix'a'H.'" Then they howled, "We 
have eaten Nix'a'H;" and he ran into the brush. When his wife and his 
daughters heard what the wolves howled, they screamed and cried. Nix'a"t 
remained out four days more. Then he made himself a pointed tomahawk, 
and painted his robe white. He put white clay over his right eye. He 
also covered a scar on his cheek. Then he came and sat on the hill near 
the tent. One of the girls went out. She saw him. "He looks like the 
man that my father was telling of," she said. She went in and told her 
mother. The woman looked out and saw him. "That is the one," she 
said. "Both of you go and take his robe. Take hold of it on each side, 
and bring him in. Do not be ashamed. He is the one your father men- 
tioned." Then the two girls went out and brought him. The woman 
put up a tent for him, and the girls sat by him on the bed, one on each 
side. At night they lay down, one on each side of him. Then he slept 
Avith them both. Thus they did many nights. The two girls were very 
beautiful, and he too Avas a fine-looking man in the day. One of the two 
girls noticed that at night he was not good looking. Then she saw a scar 
under his right eve, and thought, "He looks like my father." She could 



74 Anthropological Papers American Museujn of Natural History. \\o\. I, 

not help thinking it was he. "I think it is Nix'a"t my father who has 
married us," she said to her mother. "You foohsh one! Your father 
is dead," said the woman. Several times the girl said the same to her 
mother. At last one night the woman raised the tent-door a little and 
looked in. Indeed it was Nix'a'H! She eried, "Ah! is that how you die, 
Nix'a'H, to marry your daughters?" She ran to get a club, and he ran off. 

{d) With the Woman ivho crossed the River. 

Then he continued to go. He saw a woman going in his direction. He 
overtook her. He pretended to be a woman, "^^here are you going, my 
friend?" he said. "My husband beat me antl I am going away. Where 
are you going?" she said. "My husband beat me too, and I am leaving 
also. Let us go together," said Nix'a"t. Then they went together. They 
came to a river. "Go first," said the woman. "No, you go first," said 
Nix'a"t. Then they both lifted up their dresses. "Oh! your legs look 
like a man's," said the woman. "Have you never heard tell of the woman 
whose legs look like a man's?" said Xix'a"t. Cum longius in flumen 
introiissent, vestes altius levaverunt. "O, clunibus viro similis es!" dixit 
femina. "Nunquam fama illam feminam accepisti cujus clunes viri illis 
simihe essent?" dixit Nix'a'H. Pa?ne cum transiissent penis Xix'a'Ho e 
manibus prolapsus aquam percutiens sonum dedit. He picked it u]) 
hastily. "What did you drop?" asked the woman. "It is too bad! It 
was a love-root. I am sorry I dropped it," said Nix'a'H. When they had 
crossed, subito penem ei monstrans, "Aspice, amica!" Nix'a"t dixit. £x- 
territa in terram cecidit. Ad earn adiit libidinamque explevit. Turn 
iterum profectus est. 

(e) With the Sleeping Woman. 

He came to a camp. He looked into a tent and saw a pretty 
woman asleep. He went in, sat down, and waited for her to wake up. 
When she did not awake, he went out, and, cum excrementum in extremum 
baculi cepisset, put it on her dress. Then he came in once more and coughed. 
Still she did not wake up. Then he pushed her thighs, saying, "Surge, 
lectum inquinavisti." At last she awoke. Then Nix'a"t pretended that 
he was about to cry out, but the woman hastily told him, "Do not!" Four 
times he made as if to call out loudly, "Hjiec femina lectum inquinavit," 
sed summissa voce susurravit. Mulier dixit, "Si taces, me tibi dabo." 
"Bene, si te possidere me sines, tacebo." "Cautus sis, fratres prope 
dormiunt," mulier dixit. Tum Nix'a"t libidinam explevit. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Veyitre Myths and Tales. 75 

(/) With the Buffalo he called and the Rabbit. 

Then he went on again. He saw a man sittmg on a high bank. 
His legs were hanging over the cliff. He had two round rattles. He sang, 
and struck the rattles on the ground. Then the buffalo came in strings 
on each side of him, and fell over the bank and were killed. Then Nix'a'H 
cried. He said, "Pity me ! " The man said, "What do you wish ? " Nix 'a"t 
cried louder. At last he persuaded the man to let him have the power of 
calling the buffalo. The man gave it to him, saying, "You must not use 
the song for nothing. You must only use it when the camp is very hungry." 
Then Nix'a"t went oft'. Soon he began to try his power. He sat at the 
edge of a bank, and sang and rattled. The buffalo came in strings, and 
fell over the bank. He left them and went on. Three times he called the 
buffalo. When he called them the fourth time, the buffalo came and 
pushed him over the bank, and fell on top of him. Anus ejus solus eminuit. 
Lepus advenit et cum anum vidisset, cum eo copulavit. Nix'a^t lay there. 
After a time he saw a Coyote. "Come here. Coyote," he said. "What is 
it?" asked the Coyote. "Call all the coyotes and wolves," said Nix'a"t. 
The Coyote went on a hill, and howled. All the coyotes and w^olves came, 
and ate the buffalo, and dragged away the bones, until at last Nix'a'H 
emerged. He went on. Tum inquinavit. When he looked back, he saw 
little rabbits scampering away. He said, "Good!" He was pleased. 
Three times he saw rabbits run off. Quater cum inquinare pararet, he 
picked up rocks, spread out his robe behind him, and weighted its edge 
with rocks. Tum inquinavit, and suddenly jumped out from his robe. 
"I will get you this time!" he cried as he stamped about on his robe. Then 
he lifted up the edge and looked under. He thought he had killed rabbits, 
but there was only excrement. His robe was soiled. He began to run 
toward camp as hard as he could, crying loudly, "Come out, all! The 
enemy pursue me! Mount your horses! Inquinantes Piegani me perse- 
quuntur! Celeriter nisi venietis, togam meam inquinabunt!" The people 
hastily mounted, rode, came there, and found him toga inquinata. "I 
told you to hurry," said Nix'a"t.^ 

IG. One-eyed Owl and his Daughter. 

A man lived alone with his family. He had a pretty daughter. He 
said, "When I die, let my daughter marry a one-eyed man who has white 



I Obtained from informant R. Compare, for the first episode, Nos. 7 and 13, and Arapaho, 
Nos. 49, 50, 52, 53: for the second, Arapaho, Nos. 53-55; for the third. No. 16, and Arapaho, 
Nos. 42, 43: for the fourth and fifth respectively, Arapalio, Nos. 36 and 37; for the sixth, No. 5, 
and Arapalio, Nos. 32, 33. 



76 Anthropological Papers A)nerican Museum of Natural Histonj. [Vol I, 

clay on his eye." Then he pretended to be sick. He told his wife, "When 
I am dead, do not bind me up, but lay me on the prairie." Then he seemed 
to cUe, and she put liim out on tlie prairie. He called the wolves, and told 
them to howl, "We have eaten the person here." He gathered bones and 
laid them by his l)lanket. He Avent away, painted one of his eyes white, 
and came to his own tent. His daughter, coming out of the tent, saw him, 
and told her mother, "There is the man that my father wanted me to marry." 
Her mother said to her, "Let us put up a tent for him." Then they put uj) 
a tent, and the girl married him. He always went off in the morning and 
came back at night. Then the girl saw that he had a scar, which her father 
had had. She said to her mother, "He looks like my father." Her mother 
said to her, "Tie a string from your bed to mine, and pull it when he enters." 
At night he came, and the girl pulled the string. Then the woman came 
from her tent and found her husband. She beat him nearly to death/ 

17. The Man who went to War with his jNIother-in-law. 

There was a camp-circle. A man went off. At a distance he built 
two brush shelters. The next day he came back. He sat in his lodge 
and did not speak. His wife asked him, "What is the matter?" He 
did not answer. She asked him again and again. At last he said, "I saw 
many men going to war with their mothers-in-law in order to steal horses for 
them." Then his wife said, "I will ask my mother to go with you." She 
asked her mother, and her mother consented. Then they started off to- 
gether, the man riding in front and she behind. They came to the place 
where he had been, and each slept in a shelter. In the morning the man 
went out as if to look for tracks. When he came back he said, "I cannot 
find the tracks of the people I saw. I do not know where they can have gone." 
Then they staid there over night again. The man had put stones near his 
bed. He threw them at his mother-in-law's shelter. Soon she said, "Some 
one is troubling me here. There is a ghost about. I^et me come into your 
shelter." He consented. After a time he again threw stones to where 
she was lying. She said again that she Avas being disturbed, and asked, 
"Una dormiamus." Iterum assensus est. Tum se frigere questus est. 
Mulier rogavit, "Qua parte friges?" "Hie," dixit. Iterum rogavit, "Qua 
parte? Sumus soli. Nullus cognitum habebit. Die mihi qua parte te 
frigere." "Hie, tange," dixit. Tum ilia tetigit. Erectus ei penis fuit. 
Dixit, "Inserere ut calescat volo." Muliere assensa penem inseruit. Illic 
vixerunt donee mulier filium peperit, postquse domuni redierimt.- 

^ From informant Q. Compare No. 15, and Arapaho, Nos. 42, 43. 
2 From informant Q. Compare Arapaho, Nos. 39, 40. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 77 

18. The Kit-fox and the Ghost. 

The Kit-fox started. He went along a path in the woods. As he went, 
he smeh something that stunk. He stopped and sniffed. The odor eame 
from a dead person buried in a tree. The Kit-fox said, "It stinks." Then 
the dead person came dowTi from the tree and asked, "AVhat were you 
saying?" "I said it smelled good," said the Kit-fox. "No, you said 
something bad of me." "No, I said, 'It smells like sweet-grass about 
here.'" The ghost at last allowed him to go. The Kit-fox went oft'. 
When at some distance, he called to the ghost, "I said, 'Something smells 
bad here.' " Then the ghost pursued him. He came near, and almost 
caught him. The Kit-fox ran into a hole just as the ghost caught the end 
of his tail and pulled it off. After a time the Kit-fox came out again and 
<?ried.^ 

19. Found-in-the-Gr.\ss. 

A man camped alone. In the morning he would go to hunt, and in 
the evening he came back. "If a person comes while I am away, do not 
ask him to come in," he said to his wife. "Even if he is just about to come 
in, do not cause him to enter." And surely, when he was away, somebody 
■came there; but his wife said nothing, and the person merely walked around 
the tent. Sometimes he made as if to enter; but the woman would not say 
anything, and he did not come in. Then her husband retiu-ned, and asked 
her, "Has that jHTson been here?" "Yes, he came," she told him. 
"Indeed!" he said to her. "Now, even if he seems about to come in, 
you must not tell him to enter." Then he went hunting again. After 
he was gone some time, that ])erson came there again. He made as if to 
come in, but he did not. Then he opened and shut the door several times. 
Then the woman could restrain herself no longer, and told him, "Come 
in!" Then the man came in. She cooked for him to eat, and after she 
hud cooked she gave him the food; but he said, "That is not the kind of 
plate I use." Then she changed the plate; but again he said, "That is 
not the kind of plate I use." Then she continued to give him other 
])lates; and he said the same thing to her, until she had used all the 
plates and dishes. She did not know what to give him. Then she 
thought what kind of plate to use. She took off one of her moccasins and 
gave it to him as a plate. "That is nearly it," he said to her. Then she 
took off one of her leggings and used it as a plate. "Very nearly," he told 
her. Then she thotight, "I will try my dress for a plate." Then she took 

1 From informant M. 



78 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

off her dress, and spread it out for him as a plate. "That is very nearly it," 
he said to her. Then she lay flat on her back and made a plate of her belly. 
"That is it," he told her. She was pregnant. After the man had eaten, 
he cut her open. Then he drew out one of her children, and threw it to 
the door. "Ka'a"en will be your name," he told it. Then he drew out 
the other and threw it away. "Nii^a'" will be your name," he said to it. 
She had been with twins,^ this woman he had cut o})en. After he had done 
this, he went out and disappeared. After a time the man who was the 
husband of this woman who had ])een ripped open, returned from the hunt, 
and his wife did not appear. When she did not come out, he became fright- 
ened. He dismounted and threw off his meat. "I told her so," he said 
to himself. Then he went inside. There she lay at the back of the tent. 
He cried when he saw his wife lying dead on her back. He went out on the 
prairie and cried. He mourned day and night. When he came back to 
his tent, his arrows were scattered about. Then he put his arrows back 
into the quiver. Whenever he was away, the arrows were scattered about 
the tent. He continued to gather them up and put them back into the 
quiver. When he had done this repeatedly, he watched for those who took 
his ari'ows out. Going out doors, he lay on his face near the tent and began 
to cry. It sounded as if he were far off". While he cried, he heard a child 
speaking. It said, "Xii^a'", let us play. Our father is far away, crying." 
Soon he again heard children speaking. "I beat you," they said to each 
other. "Look, look at it closely," they said. Then, when he heard them 
say it again, he got up and ran into the tent. One of the boys escaped, 
but the one who was looking at the arrows most closely he caught. The 
child scratched him and cried, and said, "Let me go." The man said, 
"Come, my son, be quiet. I want you to live with me. I will make you a 
bow and arrows. You can always shoot with them." Then the boy 
became quiet, and they remained together. Soon after, the man said, "Well, 
my son, I will go out as I did when I caught you. I will do it again, because 
I am trying to catch your younger brother. After I begin to cry, you must 
say to your younger brother, 'Let us play together,' and, when you beat 
him, you must say, 'Look close!' When you say that to him, I will come 
in." When he had told his son what to do, he went out and lay down on 
his face and began to cry. And indeed Ka'a"en soon called, "Nii^a'", come 
here! Let us play! Our father is crying at a distance." "No, I will 
not, for you smell like your father," his younger brother said to him. "You 
need not touch me," he told him. "No, I do not want to. You smell 
like your father," Nii^a'" told him. He had difficulty in persuading him. 

1 The older of Gros Ventre twins, if boys, is given tlie name Ka'a"en. Tlie younger is. 
sometimes called Niica'" " second." 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 79 

At last he came in, and they playetl together. When Ka'a"en beat him, he 
said, "I beat you." Then the man got up and ran into his tent. There 
hay Xii^a'" looking closely at the arrows. Just as he was about to escape, 
his father caught him. He cried and scratched, and said, "Let me go!" 
"Be cjuiet, my son. You will live with me. I will make you a bow and 
arrows, and you can always shoot with them," said his father. Then he 
quieted down. Thus their father caught them both. He made bows and 
arrows for both of them. Then Ka'a"en said to him, "Now, father, make 
a sweat-house and lay our mother down in it." Then he did as his son 
told him. Then Ka'a"en said, "Step aside," and he went to one side. Then 
Ka'a"en shot up, and as he shot he said, "Look out, look out, look out, 
my mother!" Then he said to his brother, "Now it is your turn." Then 
Xiiya'" shot up, calling, "Look out, look out, look out, my mother!" When- 
ever they shot, the sweat-house shook. Ka'a"en shot upward four times, 
and Nii^a"^ four times; and when each had shot up four times, their mother 
ran out from the sweat-house. Thus they restored their mother to life. 

After a time, their father said to the boys, "Now, my sons, when you are 
out shooting, never pick up an arrow after you have shot it." Then when 
tliey went shooting, they never picked up their arrows after they had shot 
them. Once, when they had started to return, they had used up all their 
arrows. Near where they were going sat a bird. Then Nii9a"^ said to his 
brother, "My older brother, I will go back and pick up one of my arrows. 
I want to shoot this bird." "No, our father told us never to pick up our 
arrows after we had shot them." Nevertheless, Nii9a'" ran back and took 
one of his arrows. As soon as he took it, the dust rose behind them. When 
Ka'a"en saw it, lie ran toward their tent, and Nii9a'" followed him. Ka'a"en 
just got in. Just as his younger brother took hold of the door, the wind 
blew him away together with it. He was blown far away. There was a 
camp near the place to which he was blown. A dry lake was near the 
camp. It was there that he came down. When the women of the camp 
had put up their tents, they went out to cut grass at the lake. They carried 
it home on their backs. An old woman went out while the rest were already 
coming back. When she reached the lake, there was no longer anybody 
there. Then she saw a bunch of grass. "I am glad that there is some left. 
I will cut it," she said to herself. Then she went to it and began to cut it. 
As she cut it, a child cried. "I am glad to find a child. I will have it for 
my grandson," the old woman said to herself. Then she took Nii9a"^ home. 
When she got to her tent, she said, "I found this child to have for myself. 
I found it in the dry lake as I was cutting grass for bedding. Found-in-the- 
Grass will be his name." Then the old woman raised him. When he had 
grown up to be a boy, a man who had pretty daughters that were not married. 



) 



80 Ahthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

said to an old man, "Cry out, 'Any one that may catch a porcujnne, or 
any two young men that may catch porcupines, will marry my daughters. ' " 
Then all the young men set traps. Found-in-the-Grass said to his grand- 
mother, "Make me a trap, grandmother. I will also trap porcupines." 
He made her laugh, trying to do what he was too young for. "What do 
you want a wife for? You cannot even keep yourself clean," his grand- 
mother said to him. "No, grandmother, you must make me a trap and I 
will set it." Then she made him a trap, and when she had made it, he took 
it and went out with it. He set it right in the trail. Then it became night. 
In the morning all the young men got up and went to look at their traps. 
But first of all, just as it was beginning to be light, the Crow went out flying, 
and looked at the traps of all. When he had examined all the traps, he 
went to the trap that Found-in-the-Grass had set; and this was the only 
one that succeeded in catching a porcupine. Then the Crow stole it, but 
left a quill. Found-in-the-Grass came and looked at his trap. He found 
it as he had set it. But a porcupine-quill lay there. Then he thought, 
"It must be that somebody has stolen it." He went back, and said to his 
grandmother, "Grandmother, I think somebody stole the porcupine from 
me: here is a quill." "Indeed!" she said to him. Not very long after 
he had told her that some one had robbed him, an old man cried out, "The 
Crow is the one who has succeeded in trapping a porcupine." "Grand- 
mother," said Found-in-the-Grass, "it must be he who stole my jiorcupine. 
Take this quill and show it to that man, the father of those two young 
women." The old woman took the quill and showed it to the man. "Here 
is a porcupine-quill. I came to show it to you. The Crow who said that 
he trapped it, stole his porcupine. He stole it from my grandson." This 
she said to the man. "Yes," he told her. "Well, then, the Crow and 
Found-in-the-Grass must each marry one of my daughters. Well, which 
of you two wants to marry Foimd-in-the-Grass ? " he said to his daughters. 
The oldest one said, "I will not marry him. He has a big belly, and has 
mucus on his nose, and his hair is sticky and tangled." Thus she spoke 
about Found-in-the-Grass. "The Crow is the one I will marry," she said. 
The younger said, "Found-in-the-Grass is the one I will marry. I would 
not marry the Crow, for he has a large nose, and he is only a bird." Thus 
the younger one said. But the older one said to her, "Who would want 
to marry him, that Found-in-the-Grass with the big belly!" "Who would 
marry the Crow! He is only a bird with a big nose," her yovmger sister 
said to her. Thus the Crow and Found-in-the-Grass were married. After 
a time there was a famine. The Crow said to an old man, "Cry out, 'The 
Crow will go after buffalo. He says, "Build an enclosure."' Tell them 
that." Thus he told the old man, and flew off". He was gone a long time. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 81 

In the evening he came flying back alone. As soon as he started, the people 
had all made a large enclosure for the buffalo. Now he came back and 
said, "I flew everywhere, but I saw no buffalo." Then they had made 
their enclosure in vain. The Crow had failed. After a while Found-in-the- 
Grass said to an old man, "I want you to cry out, ' Found-in-the-Grass 
will go to get buft'alo. He says, "Make an enclosure.'"" Thus he told \ 

the old man. Then he sent his wife to her father. "Go and tell vour 
father that I want him to go with me to hunt," he said to his wife. When 
she entered her father's tent, her older sister was there. As soon as she 
entered, her older sister said, "^Yhere are you going, you wife of the big- 
bellied child with the dirty nose? Why do you leave him? You should 
not let him out of your sight." "And what are you doing here? Whv 
do you leave your husband the Crow, the one with the big nose? You 
should not let him out of your sight. My husband is changed every night. 
In the evening he goes out : when it is dark he comes in again, and, when 
lie comes in, he is a good-looking yoimg man. He is perfumed. Your jf 

husband the Crow cannot do that!" But her older sister said, "Found- ^"^ 

in-the-Grass is not the kind to be changed in the night." Then Found-in- 
the-Grass and his father-in-law went hunting. When they had gone, 
Found-in-the-Grass said to his father-in-law, "Xow go up on this hill and 
watch me from there." There was a large flat place. Found-in-the-Grass 
went there and began to gather buft'alo-chips. Then he placed them here 
and there in pairs on top of each other. When he had covered the large 
flat here and there with chips, he went down (into a gully) out of sight. 
Soon he reappeared. As soon as he appeared, buffalo stood all about. i 

Then he took a buft'alo-chip and burned it. After he had burned it, he went 
towards the wind to cause the buft'alo to smell it. When he had done this, 
he ran to where the enclosure was, and all the buft'alo followed him. He 
dropped out of sight, and right there the buffalo followed him over the bank. 
But he had jumped to one side. Thus Found-in-the-Grass satisfied the 
])eople's hunger. Then he went home to call his wife to shoot the buft'alo 
in the enclosure. His quiver was of otter-skin. Then his wife shot the 
buffalo. While she was killing them, her sister came to her and said, "Let 
me have the bow: let me do the shooting." "No," said her younger 
sister. "What do you want to kill them for? If you want to do the killing, 
you should kill them with your husband's, the big-nosed Crow's, bow and 
arrows." After she had killed all the buft'alo that were in the enclosure, 
Found-in-the-Grass said to the people, "Do not take for your own the one 
that is scabby. It is for my grandmother to skin." This one that he called 
scabby was the fattest of all. Then all the people began to butcher. Found- 
in-the-Grass, and his wife, and his grandmother, together skinned the 



82 Anihropolofjical Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

scabby one. He filled a gut with blood, and put it on his wife's' back. 
"Carry home this gut filled with the blood which we have obtained," he 
told her. Just as she started to go, he stabbed the gut in which the blood 
was. As soon as he had cut it, his wife was wearing a red robe and a red 
dress and red leggings. The blood had changed to clothing. His sister- 
in-law saw him do this, and came over to him. "I wish you would do to 
me as you did to your wife. That is why I came," his sister-in-law said 
to him. "Yes," he said. "Get blood, and I will do to you as I did to 
your younger sister." Then she got blood and put it on her back, and he 
cut the gut. When he cut it, blood ran down all over her. Thus Found- 
in-the-Grass ridiculetl his sister-in-law.^ 

20. Clotted-Blood. 

There was an old man who had four daughters and a son-in-law. As 
his daughters grew up, his son-in-law married them until he had all four. 
The son-in-law was bad. He and his wives never lived with the old man. 
They lived in another tent. The son-in-law would go hunting and take 
the old man with him. The old man did all the butchering, but his son-in- 
law gave him no meat. The old man got only bones to boil for the marrow. 
Once they went hunting, and drove the buffalo under a steep bank. The 
son-in-law shot several. They ran away wounded, fell, and died. The 
old man, following their tracks, came to where a buffalo that had been shot 
through the lungs had coughed out a piece of clotted blood. Then he 
pretended to fall down. He picked up the blood and put it into his quiver. 
When he and his son-in-law came together again, his son-in-law asked 
him, "What did you pick up in that place?" The old man said, "I did 
not pick up anything. I fell down. I took a thorn out of my foot." \\'hen 
they had finished butchering, they took the meat home. The young man 
kept it all, and the old man had only the blood which he had hidden. Then 
he told his wife, "Put a kettle on the fire. WV will cook this blood." The 
old woman did so. When the water boiled, she threw the blood in. Then 
a child cried. The old man said, "Take the child out. It will be our son." 
Then the olil woman took it out from the kettle. It was a boy. The 
son-in-law heard the child crying. He told his youngest wife, "Run to the 
tent and see what the child is. If it is a girl, I want to marry her when she 
is old enough. If it is a boy, they must throw him away and kill him." The 
young woman went over. She was the only one of the daughters who cared 
for the old people. Sometimes she stole food for them. She asked her par- 

> From a te.xt obtained from informant S. Compare Arapaho, No.s. 19-143. For tlie dis- 
astrous consequence of shooting an arrow, compare Arapaho, No.s. 6, 141, 142. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 83 

■ents what the child was. The old man said to her, " It is a boy, but you must 
say, 'It is a girl.'" The young woman went back and told that it was a 
girl. The man said, "Take some of this refuse over and let the old woman 
drink it, so that she will have milk to raise the child." The old man knew 
that the child was supernatural. He said to his wife, "Swing the child 
on the southwest side of the tent (to the right of the door), then swing it 
on the northwest, then at the northeast, then at the southeast." The old 
woman swung the child at the west (right) of the door. \Vhile she was 
swinging it, the child began to laugh. AYhen she swung it for the second 
time, at the northwest of the tent, it began to talk. When she swung it 
the third time, it became a large boy, who nearly jumped off the swing. 
When she swung him the fourth time, at the left of the door, he jumped off. 
He Avas a fine-looking young man. Then he told his father, "Make me a 
bow from the last rib of a buffalo, and make me four arrows from the neck- 
tendons of buffalo." Then the old man made the bow and arrows. 
He made them well, and put stone points on the ends of the arrows. 
The young man asked him, ".When are you and your son-in-law going 
hunting?" The old man said, "I do not know. I go whenever he tells 
me." At night the son-in-law sent one of his wives to tell the old man to 
be ready to hunt the next morning. Very early the next morning the old 
man and Clotted-Blood went out. The son-in-law sent one of his wives 
to tell the old man to come. The old woman cried back, "He has gone 
ahead." The woman told what her mother had said. Then the son-in- 
law said, "I will find him, and when I find him I will kill him." Clotted- 
IJlood had alrciidy killed a fat buffalo. The man saw the buffalo, came 
near, and called, "Look about you for the last time, old man, before I kill 
you." Clotted-Blood had said to the old man, "Take this kidney and eat 
it. Let him see it. Turn around, and hold it up so that he can see you 
eat it." He himself Avas hiding, lying behind the buffalo. The man said, 
"What are you eating there? Drop it I" The old man was frightened, 
and nearly let the kidney fall. Clotted-Blood said to him, "Hold it fast 
and eat it!" Again the man ordered him to dro]) it. Clotted-Blood 
ordered him, "Hold it, else I will kill you before him!" Now the man 
was very close. Then Clotted-Blood stood up beside the old man. The 
man stopped, looked at him, laughed, and said, "Well, there is my brother- 
in-law." Clotted-Blood said, "Yes, I am your brother-in-law. I have 
been waiting a long time to see you. You have treated my father badly." 
He rolled up liis sleeve, and put an arrow on his bow. The man jumped 
back. Clotted-Blood shot him in the right side. When he tried to pull 
out the arrow, it stretched. The more he pulled, the farther it stretched. 
He could not [)iill it out. Then Clotted-Blood shot him in the other side. 



84 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. I, 

When he tried to pull out the arrow, it stretched. He could not pull it out. 
Then he fell down. The boy had killed him. Even while he was dyings 
he continued to speak: "You cannot escape me. You cannot get where 
I will not find you." Clotted-Blood told his father to get wood and make 
a large fire. The old man made a fire. Clotted-Blood told him, "Cut 
off the legs and arms of the dead man." The old man refused. He said, 
"My son-in-law was very wonderful. I do not wish to do this." "Well, 
I will do it," said the young man. He cut off an arm, and threw it into the 
fire. The arm spoke: "You can go to no place where I will not get you." 
Clotted-Blood did not care. He cut off the rest of the limbs, and threw 
everything into the fire. When he had burned up the dead man altogether, 
he asked his father, "Wliich of your four daughters tried to help you?" 
The old man said, "My youngest daughter is the only one that ever loved 
me. She alone helped me. The others never helped me." Then they 
started to go back. " We will leave this meat. You will not need it. You 
will have plenty when you get back," said Clotted-Blood. Then he killed 
three of the women and their children. Only the youngest woman and 
her child he did not kill. He burned the bodies up, as he had the man's. 
Then they went into the man's tent and took all the property. They had 
plenty to eat. 

Clotted-Blood asked the old man, "My father, are there any ])eople 
in the land besides you?" "Yes, there are many tribes," said the old 
man. "I will go visiting," said Clotted-Blood. The old man told him, 
"Do not go. No one ever returns. There is something that kills them." 
But the young man was determined to go. Then the old man said to 
him, "If you will go, I will tell you all the dangerous places. The first 
is a tree. Every one that passes on the trail by that tree is killed." 
Then Clotted-Blood started. He saw the tree. "There is the tree," he 
said. He came near it. The tree began to sway. Then he tried to go 
around it. It was impossible. He had to pass by the tree. Then he 
made a motion to go under. The tree nearly fell, and he jumped back. 
Then again he made a motion to go past, but jumped back. Then he went 
far back, and ran. When he was under the tree, it fell and broke. Then 
Clotted-Blood was a down feather floating in the air. It lit on the ground 
and he was a man again. The tree had been hollow. The })eople it had 
killed were inside. Some were dead, some were only bones. Some were 
not yet dead. Clotted-Blood took them all out. He caused those who 
were not dead to live. Then he burned the tree. He told the people, 
"Go back where you came from. Why did you let this tree kill you? 
You should have known better. You are not children." 

Then he came to a bridge which was supported in the middle by a 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 85 

buffalo-head. Whenever he tried to step on it, the bridge gave way. 
Then he stepped on it as if to cross, and the bridge went down. Three 
times he stepped on it and the bridge went down. The fourth time, he 
walked out on it. Just as the bridge began to sink, he jumped, and reached 
the land on the other side of the water. The bridge went down and never 
emerged. 

Then he came to a great wolf. His father had told him, "Even if you 
stand far away, the wolf will suck you towards him." Then Clotted- 
Blood stood at a distance, and said to the wolf, "Now draw me in. I 
have heard that you draw people toward you." Then the wolf began to 
suck. The young man walked toward him. He pretended that he was 
being drawn along, and made motions as if resisting. "Indeed you are 
wonderful! You are really drawing me toward you!" he said. He went 
toward him as fast as he could walk. The wolf lay there with his mouth 
open. Without stopping, Clotted-Blood went right on, and jumped down 
his throat. Inside he found people. Some Avere alive, some nearly dead, 
some dead, and some were only bones. Above him he saw the heart hang- 
ing and beating. Then he said, " Ix't us dance. You sing and I will dance." 
Then the people sang for him. He tied a knife to the top of his head, and 
danced. When he jumped, he pricked the heart. Each time, the wolf 
leaped. Then Clotted-Blood jumped high and pierced the heart, and the 
wolf fell dead. Then he reached up and cut it off. Then he cut the sides 
of the wolf open, and came out with the peo[)le. Then he went on. 

He met an old woman. She had a large wooden dish which she heUl 
up toward people. It drew them toward it, and when they struck the dish 
they were burned. He went toward the old woman and called, "Old 
woman, come out with your dish. I wish to be drawn by it." "My 
grandson, I have been wishing for a long time to see you," said the old 
woman. Clotted-Blood continued to tell her, "Bring your dish and point 
it at me." Then at last she brought it out. He was really drawn by the 
dish. As he went, he made himself go faster. When he came near, he 
turned into a down feather, which was blown over her head, and lit behind 
her. Then he turned to himself again, seized the old woman from behind, 
and began to turn the dish toward her. She said, "Pity me, my grandson!" 
He said, "You are the old woman who destroys people with her dish." 
He continued to play with her. Then he turned the dish toward her, and 
she was drawn into it and consumed. Then he put the dish on a large 
flat rock, pounded it with mauls, broke it up, and burned it. 

He came to a large camp, whose chief was a large Bull. The first tent 
he came to was an old tent outside the camp-circle. He went in and found 
an old woman. She said, "Well, my grandson, what are you doing here? 



\ 



86 Anthropologicol Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\'ol. I, 

This place is dangerous. Go back before they fiiifl you have come here. 
I pity you. Go back." "To whom do you refer?" asked Clotted-Blood. 
Then she told him about the powerful rnill. Clotted-Blood said, "That 
is the one I came to see." The old woman urged him again to go back. 
He said, "He is the one I came to see. I Avill not go back. Cook for me. 
I am hungry." The old woman continued to urge him to go back; but 
he said, "Cook for me. I am hungry." When the Bull learned that he 
was in camp, he sent for him. The Bull was accustomed to gamble with 
any one that came. He had everything prepared for playing. Clotted- 
Blood went to him. They played with a wheel and sticks. Clotted-Blood 
le; him win everything except his bow and four arrows. Then he began 
to win. He won everything the Bull had. When the Bull had only one 
thing left to bet with, he became angry. As they ran, following the wheel, 
he snorted. Next time, as they ran after it side by side, he was more angry. 
He turned his head, hooked the young man. and tossed him. As Clotted- 
Blood flew up, he turned to down. When it lit, he was a man again. The 
Bull's horn was broken. "When one does that to me, it is what makes 
me angry," said the Bull. He charged, and tossed the young man again. 
Again Clotted-Blood turned to a plume, and when it reached the ground, 
he was a man. At once he ran for his l)ow. The Bull's other horn was 
broken. "When one does that to me, it is what makes me still more angry," 
said the Bull, and charged again. Then Clotted-Blood turned to down and 
flew entirely over him. He was wondering what to do to wound him, 
for the Bull was altogether of bone. He was impenetrable. That is why 
all were afraid of him. The Bull charged again. Clotted-Blood turned 
to a down feather, jumped over him, lit behind him, and shot him in the 
anus. The arrow went in out of sight. The Bull fell, and Clotted-Blood 
cut him to pieces. Then a crier called to the camp, "Clotted-Blood has 
come. He has killed the powerful Bull. He has killed all that was danger- 
ous on the way. The people are free again." Clotted-Blood gave all his 
winnings to the old woman. He asked her, "Where is there another 
camp?" She told him, "There is one down stream. Do not go there. 
The people are powerful." But Clotted-Blood started. 

Wlien he reached the camp, he went into an old tent. An old woman 
said, "There is my grandson Clotted-Blood! You had better go back. 
If they find you here, you will never go away alive." Clotted-Blood said, 
"Give me to eat. What is it you refer to?" When he had eaten, the old 
woman told him, "There is one who has a swing at the river. He kills all 
that swing with him." Then Clotted-Blood said, "That is what I want. 
I have heard of that swing, but I have never swung. I wish to try it. That 
man is the one v.hom I have come to see." When it was found out that 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 87 

he was in the camp, the man Avho swung people sent for him, saying, 
"Tell him to come to swing." Clotted-Blood made answer, "It is good. 
I will come. He is the one whom I wished to see. I shall come to him 
soon." Then he went to him. On a tree that leaned over a steep bank 
there was a swing. Below it there was deep water. Then the man swung 
him. Clotted-Blood said, "Good! this is good." Then he said, "Now you 
in your turn swing." Then he swung the man. Then Clotted-Blood in 
turn went on the swing again. The man swung him. He swung him hard, 
and when he was far out, he cut the rope, and Clotted-Blood fell. When 
he was near the water, he turned into a down feather. It was blown along 
by the wind, hovered, and lit just across the river at the edge of the water. 
There he stood as a man again. Then he went back. He said to the man, 
"It is much pleasure to swing, is it not ? Let us continue. Now it is your 
turn. Get on the swing." Then the man went on. Clotted-Blood 
swung liim hard. When he was above the water, he cut the swing. The 
man fell into the deep water. A large water-monster (bi'i^a" or bax'aa"^) was 
in the water. This was the guardian spirit of the man that had the swing. 
He swung people in order to feed them to this animal. Then it swallowed 
him. But it knew the man, and brought him to shore. He came back 
to Clotted-Blood. Clotted-Blood said, "Let us continue to enjoy ourselves 
by swinging. Xow it is my turn." Then he swung. Then the man cut 
the swdng, and he fell. He allowed himself to fall into the water. He fell 
straight into the water-animal's mouth. Inside of it he found people whom 
it had eaten. He cut up the animal. Then he came out. He went back 
to the man, and said to him, "I have found you out. It is you who have 
been inflicting suffering on the people. I shall make you suffer." Then 
he shot an arrow into his side and another into his other side. He killed 
him. Then a crier called out to the camp, "Clotted-Blood has arrived. 
He has killed the man with the swing and his supernatural animal. We 
are free again. We will live happily from now." Clotted-Blood asked 
the old woman, "Is there another camp?" She said, "Down the river. 
But do not go. The people there are powerful." "I am travelling in order 
to see such places," said Clotted-Blood, and started. 

Then he came to the camp and went into an old woman's tent. [The 
original here repeats the dialogue between him and the old woman.] In 
this place there was a man with a sharp leg. He caused those who came, 
to play at kicking with him. Clotted-Blood put a limb of a cottonwood 
under his robe. They played, and he proved superior to the man. Then 
the man kicked at him with his sharpened leg. Clotted-Blood threw the 
stick out, and the other's foot pierced it. Then a large cottonwood-tree 
stood there. In the top of it stuck this man. Clotted-Blood left him there 



88 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [\o\. I, 

to starve. Then a crier called to the camp, "Clotted-Blood has killed the 
one that kicked. We are free again. He has killed every dangerous being^ 
that he has met." 

Then Clotted-Blood asked his way to the next camp from the old woman. 
He came to another old woman's tent. [The original repeats the incident 
in full.] The old woman told him, "A chief gives his daughter to those 
who come visiting. Then he asks them to do something that will kill them." 
When the chief learned that Clotted-Blood was in the camp, he sent for him. 
He said to him, "I have been waiting for you. I wish you for my son-in- 
law." Clotted-Blood said, "Yes, 1 am glad to have a wife, for I am poor."^ 
After he had been given the girl, his father-in-law first wished him to get 
a bin-ning coal. His wife told Clotted-Blood what her father wanted, and 
that he must go to a certain light that was shining. Clotted-Blood went. 
He knew at once what the light was. It was the morning star. So he 
got it and brought it back. Then his father-in-law sent him to get sticks 
of cherry-wood for arrows. He told him to go to a certain thicket. There 
he had four bears that killed all who came. Clotted-Blood took his bow 
and went toward the thicket. The bears came out and rushed at him. He 
jumped about, avoiding them, and shot. He killed them all. Then he 
cut up their skins into thongs. He made a big bundle of the cherry-sticks,, 
put the fat of the bears in with it, and, tying the whole together with the 
bearskin thongs, carried it home. Then he sent it to his father-in-law by 
his wife. The old man was frightened, and blushed. He did not know 
what to say. When he had made his arrows ready for feathering, he told 
his daughter to send her husband to get feathers. He told her to ask him 
to go to a rocky precipice w4iere birds that had suitable feathers lived. 
Clotted-Blood went there and found a nest with two young ones in it. Then 
he went into the nest and sat with the young birds. He watched them. 
Whenever they opened their eyes, lightning flashed. Whenever they moved, 
it thundered. "You are wonderful little birds," he said. He took the 
little female by the bill, and twisted it. "How does it cloud up when your 
mother comes?" he asked. The Bird said, "It clouds up very dark. My 
mother is terrible. She comes with hard rain, and with thunder and light- 
ning." "Oh, yes! your mother is very powerful," said Clotted-Blood, and 
twisted the bird's bill again. Then he twisted the bill of the young male, 
and asked him, "How does it cloud when your father comes?" The 
Bird said, "The clouds are Avhite when my father comes, and he comes 
with heavy hail and thunder and lightning, for my father is very powerful." 
"Oh, yes! your father is very powerful," Clotted-Blood said, and twisted 
his nose. Then he saw a black cloud coming. Soon the sky was clouded 
all over, and it rained and thundered, and there was lightning. Clotted- 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 89 

Blood went into a cavity in tlie rocks. When the shower was over, he saw 
a white cloud come very quietly; he could hear the roar of the hail. Then 
the old female Thunder spoke to him from the cloud, "What are you doing 
there among my children ? Go away! You will make me angry." Clotted- 
Blood came out from the young birds. He said, "Very well. Let me 
speak to you first. If you are powerful, you will be able to pull my arrow 
out." Then he shot his arrow into a solid flat rock. It went half in. 
"If you can pull it out, you can kill me," he said. Then the female came 
down, and the thunder roared, and the lightning flashed, and she seized 
the arrow, and rushed up. The arrow stretched, and lengthened, and 
pulled back with all its force, and she was dashed on the rock. Then the 
male Thunder went far up, and came down violently, seized the arrow, and 
pulled it until the arrow snapped back, and he was dashed against the rock. 
The two Thunders were not dead, but they could not move. They said, 
"Pity us! W^e will give you our power if you will let us live." Clotted- 
Blood said, "Very well, I will not destroy you altogether. I will leave 
your young ones so that there will be some thunders. But I will kill you, 
for I need your feathers." Then he wrung their necks and took their 
feathers; but he left the young ones. That is why there still are thunder 
and lightning. Then he went home. "Take these feathers to your father," 
he said to his wife. Then she took them. The old man was very much 
frightened when he saw the feathers of the powerful birds. 

Then his father-in-law told him, "There are seven buffalo-l)ulls. Go 
and kill tiiem. I want the sinew of their shoulders to put on my arrows." 
Clotted-Blood went and saw the seven bulls. He approached them very 
cautiously. Nevertheless they saw him. One of them charged on him. 
He stood still, and the buffalo struck at him with his sharp horn. Then 
only a down feather flew there, and the buffalo's horn was broken. Then 
the rest charged, until all seven had broken a horn. Then they ceased 
attacking him. There was a large rock that rose a little above the ground. 
Clotted-Blood said, "I will not kill you if you can knock this rock out of 
the ground. If you cannot loosen it, I will kill you." Each of the bulls 
still had a horn. One of them made medicine and charged at the rock. 
He struck it, and broke his horn. Six of them charged it, and broke their 
horns. Then the seventh, an old one, charged. He knocked the rock loose. 
Clotted-Blood said, "I will kill you all. Only this old one knocked the 
rock out, and shall live." Then he shot the six, and killed them. He cut 
the sinew from their shoulders, and took their horns in his robe. Then he 
went back. He gave the horns and the sinew to his father-in-law. His 
father-in-law was angry because he overcame everything. He told him to 
get him flint for arrow-points. The place was under a high cliff. Clotted- 



90 AnthrnjxAogical Papers American Muscion 0/ Xatural History. [\'ol. I, 

Blood went. When he stood at the place, the cliff fell. He turned into a 
feather, and the wind from the falling bank blew it away. It lit, and he 
.stood there a man. The cliff was all down. AVhere it had fallen, the flint 
was exposed. Then he filled his robe with it for his father-in-law. At 
night his father-in-law sent him to get water at the river. Clotted-Blood 
took a bucket. When he came near the river he saw two lights. They were 
the eyes of a water-monster (bi'i^a") . He tried to go aside, but the animal 
drew him. When he found he could not keep away, he took its horn, 
and stepped on the middle of its head. He filled his bucket, cut off its 
horns, and took them back with him together with the water. He told his 
wife, "Take this water and these horns to your father. Tell him he can 
have them." The old man was angry. He had thought the water-animal 
would surely kill his son-in-law. He said, "My son-in-law is indeed a 
powerful man. He has killed everything he has met." Then he went 
to kill him himself. He took his bow. He went out and called, "Come 
out, my son-in-law! You have killed all my powerful beings (nana'Uil'i^ihii). 
Now i will kill you." Clotted-Blood said, "My father-in-law, I did not 
destroy your beings. Why do you want to kill me?" He went outside. 
The old man shot at him, and he stepped aside. The arrow went into the 
ground. His father-in-law continued to shoot imtil all his arrows were 
gone. Then Clotted-Blood took his bow and arrows. He had only four 
arrows and a down feather, which he always wore tied at the back of his 
head. He said, "My father-in-law, you have been shooting at me much. 
Now I in my turn will shoot. I have waited for this a long time. You 
have killed many men. Now you in turn will die." Then he shot, and 
killed his father-in-law. He cut him to pieces and burned him up.^ 

21. :Moox-Child. 

The Sun and the ]Moon disagreed al)out women. The ^Nloon said, 
"The women outside of the water and outside of the brush (human females) 
are the prettiest down below." The Sun said, "No, they are not. When- 
ever they look at me, they make faces. They are not pretty: they are the 
worst-looking women in the world. The women in the water are the most 
beautiful. When they look at me, they look just as if they were looking 
at their own people. I think them the most beautiful women on earth." 
He meant the Frog. The INIoon said, "You think the Frog is a pretty 
woman? You surely have poor judgment of women. The Frog has long 



> From informant P. Compare, for the first part of the story, Arapaho, Nos. 130, 131, 
also 132, 133: for the swing, No. 5; for tlie sliarpened leg, Nos. 57, 108, 109: for the thunder- 
birds, Nos. 139-143; for tlie tasks set by the fatlier-in-law. No. 129. 



1907.] Kwi'bcr^ Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 91 

le^s. She is green, with spots on her back, and large himpy eyes. I do 
not think one hke that pretty." The Sun said, "Well, we will compete 
in this. As soon as I have set, I will go to the earth and get the Frog. I 
will bring her up here to be my wife." "Very well," said the Moon. 
The Sun got the Frog without any trouble, and brought he-r up with him 
during the night to his mother's tent. The Frog hopped. With each 
leap, she urinated. Then his mother asked, "Wliat ridiculous thing is 
that?" He said, "My mother, be still. That is your daughter-in-law." 
Then his mother was silent. During the night the ^Nloon shone, and selectetl 
a woman on earth. When he disappeared early in the morning, he went 
to the earth. The woman that he had chosen was troubled all night, and 
could not sleep. She did not know what troubled her. She could not 
satisfy herself. Early in the morning she took a rawhide rope and told 
her sister-in-law to come with her to get wood. They both went to the 
woods. When they came among the trees, they saw a porcupine. The 
woman said, "I will kill this porcupine, for I want to use its quills for 
embroidery." She pursued it, and, when the porcupine ran up a tree, 
she climbed after it. The porcupine kept climbing up. Several times 
she could almost touch it. Whenever she rested, it rested only a little dis- 
tance above her. Thus it continued to do until they reached the sky. The 
tree reached to a hole in the sky, and the porcupine went in through this. 
When th(> woman had climbed up to the hole, she saw a young man standing 
at the side of it. He .said to her, "Let us go to my mother's tent." They 
went, and, when they arrived at the tent, he went inside. The woman 
remained outside. The man said, "My mother, ask your daughter-in-law 
to come in." Then his mother went outside. As soon as she came out, 
she called gladly, "Oh, what a fine-looking daughter-in-law I have! Come 
in!" Then the girl went in. The Frog was sitting beside the Sun, and 
the woman sat down ne.xt to the Moon. So their mother-in-law had two 
daughters-in-law to use for her work. The woman did much for her, but 
the Frog did little. Whenever she was sent anywhere, she hopped along. 
When the mother-in-law forgot that she had a Frog as a daughter-in-law, 
she sometimes startled her by her hopping. Then their mother-in-law 
one day lioiled the thickest part of a paunch. When she had boiled it, 
she cut it in two ])ieces, and gave one to the woman and one to the Frog. 
"Xow, my daughters-in-law," she said, "I want you to eat this paunch. 
I \\ill have the one that makes the mo.st noise in chewing it for my best 
daughter-in-law." Then the woman was the best, for she had good teeth. 
She made much noise in chewing. The Frog, in.stead of chewing the 
paunch, took a piece of charcoal. But while she chewed it, her blackened 
saliva ran down from each side of her mouth. The Moon did not like the 



92 Anthropological Papers Ayncrican Museum of Natural History. {\o\. I, 

Frog, his sister-in-law. He said, "Wherever the Frog is sent to go, she 
only hops and urinates. You should not move at all, Frog. Whenever 
you move, you urinate, dirty one!" Thus the ]Moon spoke to the Frog 
whenever she was sent on an errand. At last the Sun could hold his j)atience 
no longer. He picked up the Frog, and threw her against the Moon's face. 
"Because you do not like her, the Frog shall always stick to your face. 
But I will have your wife." That is why there is black on the moon. Then 
the Sun took the JVIoon's wife. The woman had had a son by the IMoon. 
The boy was already old enough to talk. The woman ditl not like the 
country in the sky. When her husband the Sun was hunting, she would 
go out on the prairie and cry, feeling lonely. Once she found the hole 
through which the Moon had taken her up to the sky. When she looked 
down, she saw people and the things she used to see. She went back" to 
her tent. When her husband went hunting again, she told him to bring 
her all the sinews in one buffalo. Then he did what she asked. But he 
forgot one sinew. When he went hunting again, the woman went out on 
the prairie, and began to twist the sinew into a long string. When she had 
finished it, she left it out on the hills, and came back. Her husband went 
hunting again. As soon as he was gone, she prej^ared to go to the ])Iace 
where the hole was. She tried repeatedly to leave her boy; but he begged 
her, "Please, mother, do not leave me behind! Take me with you!" 
Then she took him. She tied the sinew rope to a stick, and tied the other 
end around her chest. Then she descended, climbing down with her hands. 
When she got down to the end of the string, she was about as high above 
the earth as a tent. She could do nothing, for she had no knife. She 
hung helpless. When her husband the Sun missed her on arriving at his 
tent, he looked for her everywhere. At last he came to the hole. Tiien he 
saw his wife hanging below, swinging. Then he took a stone and spit on it. 
He said to the stone, "When I drop you, fall straight on the woman and 
strike her head, but do not touch the boy." He dropped the stone, and 
it killed the woman. The string broke, and she fell to the ground. The 
boy remained near his mother. Even when she was rotten, and when 
only her bones remained, he played about her. There was a field near by, 
and every night he went and stole from it. It belonged to an old woman. 
She missed what she had planted, and watched. Then she caught the boy. 
She spoke very kindly to him: "Is that you, my grandchild jVIoon-child ? " 
"Yes, it is I, my grandmother." "Come and live with me. I want vou 
to work about the tent." Then he went with her. He lived with her, 
but whenever he was out doors he spoke with his father in the sky. Once 
the old woman warned him: "Do not go to that place. If you go there, 
you will see a tent. There are only pretty girls in it. If they see vou, 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 93 

they will invite you to come to them. You will be able to do nothing but 
go to them, because they are very beautiful." Then the boy wondered 
why his grandmother told him not to go there. Instead of following her 
warning, he decided to go and at least look at the tent, and see what kind of 
a tent it was. Then he went in that direction. Then, indeed, he saw very 
pretty girls playing outside the tent. As soon as they saw him, they said, 
*'Is that you, Moon-Child?" "Yes," said the boy. They said, "Come 
and play with us. You are so handsome! If you wish, you can select 
one of us to be your wife." Then the boy went to them. He picked up a 
flat rock and put it away out of sight on his body. When he came to the 
tent, the girls embraced him, and kissed him, and put their arms around 
him; and as each one touched him, she said, "Take me for your wife." 
One of them said, "We want you to tell myths." The boy said, "Very 
well. But when I tell myths, I do not allow people to lie on the bed in the 
usual way. I want them to lie with their heads toward the fire." Then 
the girls lay down as he told them, and he began to tell mv'ths. He had 
put the flat rock under him for his seat. One of the girls turned into a snake, 
and went imderground. While he was telling myths, he felt the snake try 
to dash up into his body. It smashed its head on the stone. He felt it, 
but continued to tell myths until all the girls went to sleep. Then he took 
out his knife. The girls were lying with their heads on the logs along the 
edge of the beds all around the Are. He went on talking. As he talked, 
he went around and cut off their heads. Just as he got to the last one, she 
turned into a large snake and went underground. She said, "You will be 
overtaken some day. You cannot always iiave stone for your seat. You 
will be caught somewhere." The boy answered, "You will live under- 
ground." After he had killed the snakes, he went back to his grandmother. 
She told iiim to watch the field closely. Then he guarded it. As he walked 
around it, watching, he found a tent. An old woman stood there. She 
said, "Is that you, my grandchild Afoon-child?" "Yes, it is I," he said. 
"Will you come in and have something to eat?" she asked. "Yes, I will 
come in," he said. lie went in, and she gave him food. While he ate, 
she began to jnit wood into the fire. She made a large fire. She said, 
"When persons come into my house, I play with them after they have eaten." 
The boy said, "Yes, I will play with you." Tlien they wrestled. When 
she thought he was getting out of breath, she ])ushed him toward the fire. 
He turned aside, however. Thus they continued to push each other toward 
the fire. At last the old woman became tired, and he threw her into the fire. 
He held her there until she was consumed. This old woman had always 
stolen from his grandmother's field. Meanwhile the boy never forgot what 
the snake had said to him. When he went to sleep, he stuck an arrow up 



94 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

near his head, and said to it, "If the snake comes, fall on my face." Then, 
indeed, the snake came, and the arrow fell on him, and he woke and got up. 
But one night he Avas very sleepy. He stuck the arrow tightly into the 
ground, and went to sleep. The snake came to where he was lying. The 
arrow tried to fall. It tried several times. But it could not fall. The 
snake was close. Then it made a dash, and shot into the boy's anus. "Well, 
at last I have you. You said I would not catch you. This is the last you 
will live. Now you will die." Thus the snake said to the boy. But he 
answered, "No, I do not think I will die. You will become hungry, or 
out of breath, and you will leave me." The snake said, "No, I will remain 
in you until you die." The boy said, "No, I do not think you will. I 
think you will go out from me before I am dead." The boy lived some 
time with the snake in him. Then he died. The snake was in him still. 
After a time he had become nothing but bones. The snake would not leave 
him. He continued to lie there. Then the jNIoon wondered where his boy 
was. He never saw him going about any more. At last the boy was tired 
of lying on the ground so long. He said to his father, "Do something for 
me. I am tired of lying." Then the Moon made a cold rain. The snake 
crawled about under the bones, and at last went to find shelter. As soon 
as it had gone out from him, the boy stood up alive, just as he had been 
before. He caught the snake and cut it to pieces. He said, "You thought 
you would kill me. You were deceived. Instead of killing me, you are 
dead yourself." As the boy rose from his bones, his mother at the same 
time also got up alive.^ 

22. The Boy who was raised by the Seven Bulls. 

There was a camp. A boy and a girl were lovers. The girl became 
pregnant. Her mother asked her what made her belly swell. She would 
not acknowledge, but said that she was sick. When she was about to 
deliver, she told her mother, "I have had a lover and am pregnant. I am 
ashamed. Let us throw the child away." The camp moved, and she and 
her mother fell behind. She was in great pain. When the rest of the 
camp was out of sight, they stopped, and the girl gave birth to a boy. Her 
mother dug a hole in a buffalo-wallow, put the child in, and covered it 
with earth. Then they left it. The child cried and struggled, and partly 
uncovered itself. Seven old Buffalo-bulls were near by. They were 
following the trail of the camp. One went to the wallow in order to wallow 
in it. He heard a sound he did not know. Then the others came, until 

' From iuforinaiit P. Compare Arapaho, Nos. 134-138, and note to No. 137, p. 339. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 95 

all seven were there. They found the child and looked at it. They pitied 
it. One of them said, "Let us raise it. We will have it for our son." 
Then the first Buffalo began to wallow. As he wallowed, he licked the 
boy all over. Then another one licked him. When all seven had licked 
him, he was no longer a baby, but a boy. The Bulls told him to climb 
on the Bull who had first found him, and to hold on to his mane. Then 
they went off. The Bulls thought the boy hungry, but did not know what 
to give him to eat. They asked him, "Will you eat grass with us?" "No, 
I cannot eat it," the boy said. "What do you eat?" "I do not know," 
said the boy. .One of the Buffalo said, "They eat buffalo." At first the 
Bulls did not know how to kill a cow for him. They planned. They got 
a cow among themselves, and killed her with their horns. They told the 
boy, "Break a stone, and use the sharp edge to cut her up with." The 
boy broke rocks, and used the points and edges for a knife. Thus he was 
happy, for he had much to eat. He played wnth his fathers. W'hen he 
found feathers, he would tie knots in the long hair of their manes, and 
fasten the feathers there. He also tied feathers to their tails. Then the 
Bulls told him to make a bow. He knew nothing of the life of his tribe, 
therefore they instructed him. They told him, "Go into the woods and 
cut a piece of cherry-wood. Make it so long. Cut also seven sticks of 
cherry-wood for arrows. Season these. Shape the wood into a bow and 
arrows. Then cut sinew, and twist it into a bowstring." The boy did all 
this. Then they told him how to attach feathers to the arrow with sinew, 
and how to break flint into shape for arrow-points. When the boy had 
finished his bow and arrows, his fathers told him to kill his game himself. 
They carried him into a herd on their backs. In the middle of the herd 
he would jump oflF, and kill the cow he thought the best. The Bulls loved 
the boy very much, and never became angry at what he did. Sometimes 
the boy in play cut thongs of rawliide and tied their feet together; but they 
did not become angry. Each in his turn, they carried him over the country. 
He lived with them until he was a young man. Then his fathers took him 
to a large herd in which there was a powerful Bull. He kept only young 
Cows in his herd. Whenever any Bull approached, he drove him away. 
One of the Seven Bulls told the young man, "You must be very careful 
when we come to this herd, for the Bull is jealous and powerful. Do not 
even go near the Cows, or you may lose your life." When they reached 
the place where the herd was, they saw the dangerous Bull. The Seven 
Bulls watched the young man closely. But he escaped from them, and 
went toward the herd. One of the young Cows came running to him. 
"I heard that the Seven Bulls had a good-looking young man. Are you 
he?" she said. "Yes." "You are indeed handsome." Then she began 



96 Anthrojiological Papers American Mvsetim of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

to try to attract the young man's desire, and at last succeeded: he went to 
her et earn olfactavit. Then a young Bull, a servant of the powerful Bull, 
went and said, "A young man, the son of the Seven Bulls, is with one of 
your young wives." The Bull became angry. He came swiftly to where 
the young man was standing with the Cow. When the young man saw 
the Bull, he fled. The Bull said, "It is useless for you to try to escape. 
I will overcome you together with your fathers, the Seven Bulls." When 
the young man reached his fathers, they said, "We must save our son, 
even though we die for it." They got up and stood around him with their 
tails raised. One of them went out to meet the powerful Bull. The power- 
ful Bull broke all his legs so that he was unable to move. Then another 
one went, but was disabled; and another; and so all went against him, 
and had their legs broken. Then the powerful Bull said to the yoimg 
man, "Now it is time for you to be killed." The young man said to him, 
"I do not think you will kill me. Perhaps you will kill me; but I do not 
think so." He rolled up his sleeve, preparing to shoot. He had a white 
plume on his head. The Bull charged on him, and tossed him up; but only 
the white plume flew up in the air. When it came down, then* stood the 
young man. The Bull tossed him repeatedly, l)ut did not injure him. Then 
the young man shot the Bull. His arrow nearly went through him. Then 
he went to the other side of him, and shot another arrow nearly through 
him. Then he killed the powerful Bull. After he had killed him, he told 
his seven fathers, "I will try to heal you." He went to the one who had 
first found him, drew his bow on him, and said, "Get up, or I will shoot 
you." Four times he made a motion as if to shoot. The fourth time, the 
Bull got up well and sound. Then the young man took another of his 
seven arrows, and pretended four times to shoot one of the others, and this 
one arose sound. With each of his seven arrows he cured one of the Bulls. 
Each of the seven thanked him. They said, "You have shown that you 
think well of what we have done for you." Then one of them said, "It is 
time for you to go to your own people. We have raised you. You are a 
man. Now it is time for you to go. We cannot change you into a buffalo. 
Go to your father and mother." Then they went to look for the camp 
where his parents were. They went one behind the other, and the young 
man rode them in turn and played with them. When they came near the 
camp, they all stopped. "Your people are very near. You had better go 
to them. We thank you for restoring us to life." The young man thanked 
them for having raised him to manhood. As he was about to leave them, 
he stopped and said, "I do not like to leave you, my fathers. I love you. 
If I go to the camp, I shall not know my people. I shall not understand 
them if they talk to me. I shall not know my father and mother." The 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 97 

Bulls said to him, "You will know your father and mother when you reach 
the camp. You will understand the people when they speak to you, and 
they will understand you. You are a human being: we are animals. We 
cannot turn you into an animal. That is why we tell you to leave us. Now 
go. ^Yhen you are near the camp, stop. Many young women will be 
playing ball. The ball will roll straight to you, and stop in front of you. 
Then pick it up. One of the young women will follow the ball, and will 
come to you. She is your mother. When she comes to you, you must 
give her the ball, saying, 'Here is the ball,' my mother.'" The young 
man did all this. When he said, "Here is the ball, my mother," she was 
ashamed. Instead of acknowledging him as her son, she ran home, crying. 
All the other young women were surprised to see him following her. She 
entered the tent, and he entered it after her. There he saw her father and 
mother. He said to them, "My grandparents, I am here. I am your 
grandson." When he had said this, his grandmother spoke. She said, 
"How is it that we are your grandparents?" "Do you not know," said 
the young man, "tiiat, when the people were moving camp, my mother 
gave birth to a child ? After I was born, you l)uried me in a buffalo-wallow. 
Seven old bulls found me. They brought me up until I was a man." His 
grandfather was surprised. He had known nothing of what his wife and 
daughter had done. When the young man had finished telling about 
iiimself, the girl stopped crying, and his grandmother took him in her arms 
and kissed liim as her grandson. When night came, the young man said, 
"Now I will go and look for my father. I want my mother to go with me." 
Then they went out. Many young men were gambling with hiding-buttons 
in a tent. The young man and his mother went there. He looked in at 
the men gambling. While he looked, one party guessed right. Then the 
others threw the buttons (kaa(;haan) to them, and the man that picked them 
up was his father. As soon as he saw this, the young man went in and 
said, "My father, let us go home." The man was surprised and got up. 
The young woman had come in too. Then all three went out and to their 
tent. That is how the young man found his father and mother.^ 

23. White-Stone. 

There were seven brothers and one sister. Every morning one of them 
went hunting and did not return. The oldest was the first to go. Then 
tli(^ next old(>st \\ent to look for his brother. He also did not return. Thus 
thev continued until all were gone. When the woman knew that her 



1 Told by informant P. 



98 Anthropological Papcr^i American Museum of Xatural History. [\\)1. I, 

brothers had all been killed, she went into the hills and cried. She thought 
she would kill herself. She swallowed a white stone that was near her. 
After she had swallowed it, her abdomen began to grow larger day by day. 
She gave birth to a boy. She said to herself, "I am so glad that 1 have a 
son. His name shall be White-Stone (Na"khaana''"tya")." She made a 
swing for her baby at the left of the door, the southeast side of the tent. 
She swung the child four times, and it began to smile. Then she made a 
swing on the northeast side of the tent, and swung the bal)v four times. 
Then it began to talk. Then she put the swing on the other side of the tent,. 
at the northwest corner. After four swings, the child almost jumped off. 
Then she put the swing near the door again, at the southwest of the tent, 
and, after she had swung him four times, he jumped oft" as a boy. The 
woman made him a bow of a short rib and an arrow of neck-tendons 
(hityii'ta"). Then the boy asked his mother, "In what direction did my 
uncles go?" She said, "Do not seek them. It must be a very dangerous 
place to which my brothers went, or they would have come back." 
"Nevertheless, mother, I wish to go to that place. Therefore tell me in 
which direction they went." At last she told him. There was a hill not 
far from the tent, over which they had gone. The boy went to the hill, 
and when he had gone over the top, he saw a buftalo-buU standing. He 
started to creep up on him. The buffalo stood still. The boy noticed at 
once that it was the buffalo that had been the cause of his uncles' deaths. 
When he came near, he shot it. He killed it. He began to cut the skin 
in order to flay it. Then an old woman came toward him. When she 
reached him, she said, "You drew blood from my buffalo." "Yes,. 
grandmother." Then she imitated the boy's speech, "Yes, grandmother." 
She told him that he must take the entire bull, and carry it on his back to 
her tent. The boy said, "It is impossible to carry so heavy a load as the 
meat of a whole bull. Besides, I have nothing Avith which to carry it." 
" Use your bowstring," she said. The boy said, " ^ly bowstring is not strong 
enough." She said, "Use it anyway, you have nothing else. I want you 
to carry the bull." The old woman had an iron cane. She had done thus 
to the boy's uncles. When they had got to her tent and stooped to lay 
down the load of meat, she had struck them in the back of the head with 
her cane, and killed them. When the old woman told the boy so often to 
carry the bull, he became angry. He knew that it was she who had killed 
his uncles. He took his bow and said to her, "And I want you to carrv the 
bull to your tent on your back. You must be the one who has killed mv 
uncles. 1 am glad that I have found you to-day. This is your last day." 
Then the old woman began to speak kindly to him, "Is that you, mv grand- 
.son White-Stone ? I have been longing to see vou. I am glad to see voii 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 99 

to-day. Do not compel me to carry this Ijull. I have nothing to carry it 
with." "Well, grandmother, I am glad to see you too. To-day you shall 
repay the death of my uncles. You have a belt with Ayhich you can carry 
the meat." When the old woman knew that she must carry the bull, she 
took it on her back. Then she asked, "Where are we going with this bull ?" 
White-Stone said, "You should know where we are going. Have you a 
tent?" "Yes." "Take it there." He took the cane away from her. 
On the way she became tired, and wanted to rest. "Grandson, please let 
me rest," she said. "No, I do not wish you to rest. You will have time to 
rest when you reach the tent." When they were at the tent, and she stopped 
to unload, he struck her on the head with her cane, and killed her. Then 
he saw his uncles lying around outside of the tent. He said to them, "You 
are men. You are not boys to be killed by an old woman like this." Then 
he took hold of the seven dead bodies, and dragged them into the tent. 
After he had dragged them in, he closed the door and stepped aside. He 
shot an arrow up in the air, and when it descended he called, "Look out, 
look out, look out, my uncle!" and one of them jumped up and ran out. 
Then he shot and called out again, and he could see the tent move; and 
again one of them jumped out. He shot up again, and another one came 
out of the tent. He shot up a fourth time and called, "Look out, look out, 
look out, my uncles!" and all four emerged from the tent. Thus he brought 
all his uncles to life. He took them home with him. After he had brought 
his uncles back, he asked his mother, "Where is there a camp?" She did 
not want him to go away. He insisted. Finally she told him where the 
camps of the people were. Then he went in that direction. He came to 
a camp and went into an old woman's tent. As soon as he had entered, 
she looked at him and said, "Is that you, my grandson White-Stone? 
Where did you come from, and where are you going?" "I came from 
home, and I am visiting here." The old woman said to him, "Do not stay 
here long. Go back. Bone-Bull (i^a'^na^tya*^) is here. He is very jealous 
towards strangers. If you stay long, you will have trouble with him." 
White-Stone said, "I do not like to go home. I came here in order to see 
p('o])le. I wish to stay." The old woman warned him: "Do not go near 
the tent of Bone-Bull. You will get into trouble with him." The bull had 
a beautiful young wife. White-Stone asked, "Which of the women is 
Bone-Bull's wife?" The old woman pointed her out to him, and he saw 
that she was a beautiful Avoman. White-Stone dressed himself finely. 
On his head he wore a white plume. He also carried his bow. Then he 
went and stood at the place where the women got water. As soon as the 
young woman saw him, she took a bucket and went for water. When she 
was filling her bucket, he went to her, caught her around the back, and began 



100 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

feeling her breasts. She ran back to her tent, and cried, "Bone-Bull, 
White-Stone has touched my breasts." Bone-Bull came out. He ran in 
all directions, he was so angry. "You cannot go very far, young man," 
he called to White-Stone. Meanwhile White-Stone was standing at one 
place. The bull came to him very angry. "You cannot escape me," 
he said. But White-Stone had been standing still. The bull ran against 
him, and hooked him. The horn with which he struck him flew to one 
side, broken. White-Stone said, "You also cannot escape very far from me." 
When the bull had hooked liim, the plume on his head flew up, and White- 
Stone with it. He dropped on the bull's back. "When persons do things 
like this, it makes me still angrier. You will not be able to escape me," 
said the bull. He hooked White-Stone with his other horn. This horn 
broke also, and White-Stone again flew up with the pliune and lit on the 
bull's back. Then White-Stone took his bow, and shot him in the anus. 
After he had shot him behind, he went in front of him, and shot him in the 
mouth. This arrow went straight to the heart. After he had killed him, 
he built a fire, and put the body in and burned it to ashes. Then he went 
to the old woman and said to her, " From to-day you are free. 1 have killed 
Bone-Bull." Before this, the people did not go out doors in the da}1:ime. 
They were afraid of the l)ull. Xow the people were rid of him, and hapj^y 
that White-Stone had killed him.^ 

24. The Womex who married the Moon and a Buffalo. 

Two women were lying out doors at night. (3ne of them said, "I wish 
I had the moon for my husband." The other said, "I wish I had that 
smallest star for my husband." The next day, when they were getting 
water, the ■Moon appeared to the women as a porcupine on a dead tree. 
Wlien the woman who had wished to have the moon as a husband saw it, 
she climbed up the tree after it. She came near it, but never reached it. 
The ^Nloon caused the tree to stretch up and up. The other woman called 
to her, "You are rising," but she did not listen to her. Thus she con- 
tinued to ascend until she reached the sky. Then the ]Moon took her and 
married her. Then she had a child. When the jNIoon went hunting, 
she Avent to dig hiitceni-roots. The Moon told her, "Do not dig the roots 
of a blue flower." Then she dug the plant with the blue flower, and there 
was a hole in the sky. She looked down and saw her home. Then she 
became sad. Her husband noticed it and asked her, "Why are you sad?" 



1 Told by informant P. For the restoration to life in the sweat-house, compare No. 40, and 
Arapalio, Nos. 5, 6, 119; for Bone-Bull, No. 81; for the child born from a stone, No. 6: for the 
bow of rib, and arrow of tendon.jNos. 139-142; for a general parallel, the myth of Liglit-Stone, 
No. 85. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 101 

She told liim that she wanted to return to the earth. He said to her, "I 
will send you home." Then she made a rope of sinew and a bag of skin. 
With this the Moon let her down. The people were on the prairie playing. 
An old man with sore eyes was lying on his back. As he looked up, he saw 
a speck. Then he told others. They ridiculed him. Then they looked 
and saw it also. They all watched. The tiling came nearer. At last they 
saw that it was a woman. Then she reached the earth, and returned to 
her people. 

The other woman, who had wished for a star, was approached by a buffalo- 
bull when she was getting water. He said to her, "I am the one you wished 
for." She denied it. Then he asked her, "What did you say at night?" 
Then she remembered that she had wished for the faintest star. He said, 
"I am he." Then he took her away. Xo one knew where she was. At 
last the hunters found her in the middle of the herd. But they could not 
reach her. Then the Gopher said, "I will rescue her." He dug a long 
hole, and excavated under the place where she was sitting. Then the 
woman fell into the hole. Only her robe was left in the position in which 
she had been sitting. Then the Bull told her to get up. She did not 
answer. He became angry, and struck her with his horn. He found her 
robe empty. Then he sent the buffalo out in pursuit. The woman, having 
returned through the underground passage, fled with her father and mother. 
They came to three trees, and climl)ed one of them. All the buffalo came 
there and went by. At last came an old buffalo who was scabby. He 
rubbed his sides against the tree. The woman had to urinate. She could 
restrain herself no longer. Tlie urine flowed down on the old bull. He 
looked up and saw the woman. He went after the other buffalo and brought 
them. They hooked the tree with their horns until it fell. It fell on one 
of the other trees. Then the people climbed on that. Then the buffalo 
butted this tree until it fell on the middle tree. Then this tree told the 
people, "Climb on me." The buffalo all went to strike this tree also. 
At last all of them broke their horns. [End uncertain.]^ 

25. TiTK WoMF.x wno married a Star axd a Buffalo. 

One night two girls were hdng out doors with their faces toward the sky. 
They wished for stars. They would say, "I want that one," and then, 
"I want that one." Then a star came down and took one of them up. 
The other one remained on earth. Once she saw a buffalo-bull running 
by, and said, "I wish you were my husband." When she went to get water, 

• Compare No. 25, and Arapaho, Nos. 12, 81-84, 144. 



102 Anthro])ologicaJ Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [^'ol. I, 

she saw a young man standing bv the path. He tohl her, "I am the one 
you Avanted to marry." He took her with him, and she hved surrounded 
by a buffalo-herd. Her husband looked for her, and found her in the middle 
of a buffalo-herd. Then the Gopher burrowed underground to where she 
was, and took her back Avith him. The woman and her husband climbed a 
tree. When the Buffalo-bull missed her, he ran about, searching. At last 
he smclled her, looked up, and saw her in the tree. All the buft"alo began 
to hook the tree with their horns. They finally cut the tree down, and 
when it fell, killed the man. The Bull took the woman back with him into 
the herd. The people asked the Badger to help them. He dug under- 
ground to where the woman was. He made a hole there, into which she 
fell. Then he took her back with him through the burrow. Then her 
brother-in-law fled with her. The Buffalo followed their tracks by scent. 
The man and the woman reached the camp, followed closely l)y the Buffalo. 
The woman ran inside a tent. The Bull stood outside, shaking his tail. 
Then he went in. The people could not stop him nor wound him. He 
took the woman back with him. The people all went to bring her back. 
They saw her in the herd, but could not rescue her. Then they sent the 
Bald Eagle. He seized her by her head, and flew oft' with her. All the 
buft'alo looked up and saw her soaring through the air. They could do 
nothing. Then the woman came back to her people.^ 

26. The Deserted Children. 

There was a camp. All the children went oft" to play, "^rhey went to 
some distance. Then one man said, "Let us abandon the children. Lift 
the ends of your tent-poles and travois when you go, so that there will be 
no trail." Then the people went off. After a time the oldest girl amongst 
the children sent the others back to the camp to get something to eat. The 
children found the camp gone, the fires out, and only ashes about. They 
cried, and wandered about at random. The oldest girl said, "Let us go 
toward the river." They found a trail leading across the river, and forded 
the river there. Then one of the girls found a tent-pole. As they went 
along, she cried, "My mother, here is your tent-pole." "Bring my tent- 
pole here!" shouted an old woman loudly from out of the timber. The 
children went towards her. They found that she was an old woman who 
lived alone. They entered her tent. At night they were tired. The 
old woman told them all to slec]^ with their heads toward the fire. Only 
one little girl who had a small brother pretended to sleep, but did not. The 

1 From informant M. Compare note to tlie preceding version. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 103 

■old woman watched if all were asleep. Then she put her foot in the fire. 
It became red hot. Then she pressed it down on the throat of one of the 
children, and burned through the child's throat. Then she killed the next 
one and the next one. The little girl jumped up, saying, "My grandmother, 
let me liye with you and work for you. I will bring wood and water for you." 
Then the old woman allowed her and her little brother to liye. "Take 
these out," she said. Then the little girl, carrying her brother on her back, 
dragged out the bodies of the other children. Then the old woman sent 
her to get wood. The little girl brought back a load of Cottonwood. When 
she brought it, the old woman said, "That is not the kind of wood I use. 
Throw it out. Bring another load." The little girl went out and got 
willow- wood. She came back, and said, "My grandmother, I have a load 
of wood." "Throw it in," said the old woman. The little girl threw the 
wood into the tent. The old woman said, "That is not the kind of wood 
1 use. Throw it outside. Now go get wood for me." Then the little 
girl brought birch- wood, then cherry, then sagebrush; but the old woman 
always said, "That is not the kind of wood I use," and sent her out again. 
The little girl went. She cried and cried. Then a bird came to her and 
told her, "Bring her ghost-ropes (tsookan^ana^tso), for she is a ghost." 
Then the little girl brought some of these plants, which grow on willows. 
The old woman said, "Throw in the wood which you haye brought." The 
little girl threw it in. Then the old woman was glad. "You are my good 
grand-daughter," she said. Then the old woman sent the little girl to get 
water. The little girl brought her riyer-water, then rain-water, then spring- 
water; but the old woman always told her, "That is not the kind of water 
I use. Spill it!" Then the bird told the little girl, "Bring her foul, stag- 
nant water, which is muddy and full of worms. That is the only kind she 
drinks." The little girl got the water, and when she brought it the old 
woman was glad. Then the little boy said that he wanted to go out ut 
mingeret inquinaretque. Puella anui dixit, "Ayia, fraterculum oportet 
mingere inciuiuareque." "In tabernaculo mingito!" " Quandocuncjue 
urinat flumen fecit." "In tabernaculo inquinato!" "Cum inquinat 
semper montem fecit." "Well, then, go out with your brother, but let half 
of your robe remain inside of the tent while you hold him." Then the girl 
took her little brother out, leaving half of her robe inside the tent. When 
she was outside, she stuck an awl in the ground. She hung her robe on 
this, and, taking her little brother, fled. The awl made the sound of the 
boy qui inquinare conatus est. The old woman called, "Hurry!" Then 
the awl answered, "My grandmother, my little brother is not yet ready." 
Again the old woman said, "Now hurry!" Then the awl answered again, 
"My little brother is not ready." Then the old woman said, "Come in 



104 Anthropohcjical Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. I, 

now, else I will go outside an.l kill you." She started to go out, and .stepped 
on the awl. The little girl and her brother fled, and came to a large river. 
An animal with two horns (a bax'aa") lay there. It said, "Louse me." 
The little bov loused it. Its lice were frogs. " Catch four, and crack them 
with your teeth," said the Water-monster. The boy had on a necklace of 
plum-seeds. Four times the girl cracked a seed. She made the monster 
think that her brother had cracked one of its lice. Then the ba.x'aa" .said, 
"Go between my horns, and do not open your eyes until we have crossed." 
Then he went under the surface of the water. He came up on the other 
side. The children got off and went on. The old woman was pursuing 
the children, saving, "I will kill you. You cannot escape me by going 
to the skv or bv entering the ground." She came to the river. The bax'aa" 
had returned, and was Iving at the edge of the water. " Louse me," it said. 
The old woman found a frog. "These dirty lice! I will not put them 
into mv mouth!" she said, and threw it into the river. She found three 
more, and threw them away. Then she went on the Water-monster. He 
went under the surface of the water, remained there, drowned her, and 
ate her. The children went on. At last they came to the camp of the peo{)le 
who had deserted them. They came to their parents' tent. " My mother, 
here is vour little .son," the girl sai.l. "I did not know that 1 had a .son," 
their mother said. They went to their father, their uncle, an.l their grand- 
father. Thev all said. 'T did not know 1 had a son," "I did not know 
I had a nephew," "1 did not know I had a grandson." Tlicn a man sai(l, 
"Let us tie them face to face, and hang them in a tree and leave them." 
Then thev tied them together, hung them in a tree, put out all the fires, 
and left them. A small dog with sores all over his body, his mouth, and 
his eyes, pretended to be sick and unable to move, and lay on the ground. 
He kept a little fire between his legs, and had hidden a knife. The people 
left the dog Iving. When they had all gone oft', the dog went to t he children, 
climbe.l the "tree, cut the ropes, and freed them. The Uttle boy cried an.l 
cried. He felt bad about what the people had done. Then many butt'alo 
came near them. "L.)ok at the buft'alo, my brother," said the girl. The 
boy looked at the buffalo, and they fell dead. The girl wondered how they 
might cut them up. "Look at the meat, my younger brother," she said. 
The bov looked at the dead buffalo, and the meat was all cut uj). Then 
she toki him to look at the meat, and when he looked at it, the meat was 
dried. Then they had much to eat, and the dog became well again. The 
girl sat down on 'the pile of buffalo-skins, and they were all dressed. She 
folded them together, sat on them, and there was a tent. Then s1k> went 
out with the dog and looked for sticks. She brought dead branches, broken 
tent-poles, and rotten wood. "Look at the tent-poles," she said to her 



1907.] Kroeber. Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 105 

brother. When he looked, there were large straight tent-poles, smooth 
and good. Then the girl tied three together at the top, and stood them up, 
and told her brother to look at the tent. He looked, and a large fine tent 
stood th?re. Then she told him to go inside and look about him. He 
went in and looked. Then the tent was filled with property, and there 
were beds for them, and a bed also for the dog. The dog was an old man. 
Then the girl said, "Look at the antelopes rimning, mv brother." The 
boy looked, and the antelopes fell dead. He looked at them again, and the 
meat was cut up and the skins taken off. Then the girl made fine dresses 
of the skins for her brother and herself and the dog. Then she called as 
if she were calling for dogs, and four bears came loping to her. "You 
watch that pile of meat, and yoti this one," she .said to each one of the bears. 
The bears went to the meat and watched it. Then the boy looked at the 
woods, and there was a corral full of fine painted horses. Then the children 
lived at this place, the .same place where they had been tied and abandoned. 
They had very much food and much property. Then a man came and 
saw their tent and the abundance they had, and went back and told the 
people. Then the people were told, " Break camp and move to the children, 
for we are without food." Then they broke camp and travelled, and came 
to the children. The women went to take meat, but the bears drove them 
away. The girl and her brother would not come otit of the tent. Xot 
even the dog would come out. Then the girl said, "I will go out and bring 
a wife for you, my brother, and for the dog, and a husband for myself." 
Then she went out, and went to the camp and .selected two pretty girls and 
one good-looking yoimg man, and told them to come with her. She took 
them into the tent, and the girls .sat down by the boy and the old man, and 
the man by her. Then they gave them fine clothing, and married them. 
Then the sister told her brother, "(io outside and look at the camp." The 
boy went out and looked at the people, and they all fell dead.^ 

27. The Girl who became a Bear. 

There was a large camp. Many little girls were playing. They were 
all little. Only one was older. She played with the rest in the brush near 
the river. She said to the others, "All go and bring something to eat. 
Whoever does not bring the last rib is not loved by her parents." The 
children all ran home, and each one brought back a short rib of a buffalo. 
Then they cooked and ate the meat, and the oldest girl took eight of the 
ribs. She said. "Now we will play bear. I will play that these are my 

1 From informant N. Compare No. 3, and Arapalio, Nos. 127, 128. 



h 



1 00 A nlhni/jolnrpral Pnprr.s American MuHmm of Natural History. [\ ol. I, 

white Haws." 'J'lxii ili<y played hear. Suddenly she turned into a bear. 
She killed all exeept hc^r little sister. Her little sister ran home and brought 
tin; news. Soon the liear eanie loijing toward the eanip. All took up 
their weapons: old and yowtin nicii used flubs and spears and arrows. 
None (,r IJK' jiirovvs penetrated her, and she would cateh and kill the men 
that fought her. 'J'hus she did until she had killed every one in the eamp, 
exeepting her little si.ster, who had run, and hidden in a dog-hut. The 
Bear knew that she had not killed her little sister, and went to the dog-hut. 
She said, "Cowr. out, or I will kill you." So the little girl eame out. Her 
elder sister told h(;r, "Take four of the largest tents you ean find, and make 
one tent of them for me. You must get jimiper ((,'ililtouwuus6o"), and 
cover the floor of the tent with it." ^Yhen the little girl had done all this, 
the bear lay down an<l groaned and groaned. She rolled and .sprawled in pain 
from her W(nuids. The little girl sat by the door, afraid. She said, "Sister, 
]iia,y I go to get water?" Her sister said, "Yes; but you must be quick. 
Do not try 1o run away. If you try to escape, I ean catch you. You ean 
go nowhere where 1 cannot catch you. You cannot go into a hole where I 
cannot catch you. If you go into the water, I will catch you." Then the 
little girl went out. Her six brothers had been away. Now they eame 
back; but when they found the canii) deserted, they were afraid to enter 
il . So they lay down behinrl a hill. When they .saw their little sister going, 
for wat(>r, they went to meet her. "Why is the camp empty?" they asked. 
She said, "My sister turned into a bear, and killed all the people." Then 
her brothers said to her, "You must go back. Roast this bufialo-fat from 
the paunch, and when it is hot, throw it between her legs as she sprawls. 
Then run awav. Hut first you nuist ask her, 'Is there any spot in which 
you can be killed? Is there anything that will kill you?' Ask her that. 
Then throw the fat on her, and flee." Then the little girl went back and 
asked the Bear as her brothers had told her. The Bear asked her, "^Yho 
told you to ask me that? Some one nnist have told you." The little girl 
said, "No. I only wanted to know it." The Bear .said, "Yes, some one 
must have told you to ask me." But the little girl answered "No. I only 
wanted to know, because you have killed every one in can)]), and I thought 
vou were powerful." Then the 15car said, "I caujiot be killed except in 
the little finger of my left hand. And I cannot l)e killed by any arrow 
except an arrow of tendon." Then the littl(> girl roasted the fat. When 
it was hot, she threw it between the Bear's legs, so that .she rolled about 
in pain. Then the girl ran to her brothers. Then they ran along the river, 
going through the water. WHien they had gone a distanc(>, the little girl 
looked back, and sa\v the Bear coming. Sh(> said, "There is my sister!" 
The Bear was following their tracks through the water. WMien the people 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myth.^ and Tales. 107 

saw that they couhl not escape her, they stopped, and began to shoot the 
Bear. Their arrows had no effect. The youngest brother had a bow made 
of tendon and an arrow of the same. Now he drew hLs bow at the Bear. 
He stretched it four times, and shot. He struck her in the httle finger, and 
she died. Then they made a fire and burned her. Whenever a spark 
flew out of the fire, they heard the Bear roaring there, and quickly ran to it 
and threw it in the fire again; and when some of her fat spattered out, it 
roared Hke a bear, and they threw it back. Thas they entirely consumed 
the Bear. But one spark they did not see. Then they started. They 
travelled the entire night. Then the little girl looked back. "There 
comes my sister I" she said. Then they ran. They ran, and became very 
tired. Then the oldest brother said, "Let there be a deep swamp behind 
us, so that the Bear will become fast in the bog." Then there was a swanijj. 
They went more slowly again, and recovered their breath. I^ooking back, 
they saw the Bear coming again. They ran. Then the next brother 
said, " Let much timber be between us and the Bear. Let it be veri' dense, 
so that the Bear cannot pass through it; or, if she does pass through, that 
it will be a ver^- long time." Then there was timber behind them, and 
they went more slowly. Th?n they saw the Bear coming again, and the 
third brother said, "I^t there be a very deep canyon behind as. Let it be 
^o large and steep that the Bear cannot descend into it ; or, if she does descend, 
tliat she cannot come out of it." Then there was a canyon, and they watched 
the Bear enter it. At last they saw her emerge, and they ran again. Then 
the fourth brother said, "Let a river be behind as. Let it be large and 
deep and ven' swift, so that she cannot swim it, or, if she does swim it, let 
her be carried far down stream." Then there was a river behind them. 
After the Bear entered it, they did not .see her. They thought her drowned, 
and went on slowly. At last, after a long time, the Bear came on again. 
The people were ven,' tired. They said to the fifth brother, "Cannot you 
do something? We are ver\' tired. We have done what we could. It 
is all that we can do." Their brother answered, "Yes. Let there be a 
terrible fire behind as, which the Bear will be afraid to pass through." 
Then there was a fire. At last the Bear passed through it and came on 
again. They .said, "There comes the Bearl" and ran. Then they asked 
the last bn>ther, "Cannot you do something? We are ver}- tired. If you 
cannot do .something, we shall surely be killed." "Yes," he .said. "Let 
there be cactus. Let them be exceedingly thick. Let them be so that the 
Bear cannot pass over them, or, if she does pass over them, let it be a very 
long time." The Bear went into the cactas-thickets. They could not .see 
her any more. They went far on. Then the little girl .said, "There comes 
mv sister againi" "What can we do now?" they said. They ran on. 



lOS AnthropoliH/ical Papers AuHrkan Museum oj Natural Ilistury. [\o\. I, 

"Sister, can you not do something? Perliii])s in your life you liave dreamed 
somethino;. rerliai)s you are al)le to do sometliino; wondcM-ful." 'I'lie 
little ti'ii-l said, " \'es. Let us run on until we ti'et to this flat ])lace. Then I 
will do it." 'rh(>y ran until they came where it was tint. There they 
stopped. The brothers said, "Now we sliall see what she can do." T\w 
liear was close up. 'i'he o'irl made them all stand facin*! the east. "The 
two oldest were in front, and behind them the two next, then another, and 
behind him the youngest. She herself was ])ack of them all. Then she 
said, "M\' brothers, all our relatives are dead. We should not be hap])y if 
we lived here alone and without them. We will go above and we will live 
there." Then she called her oldest brother by name. "Now my brother," 
she said, and kicked a little ball that she always carried in her dress on a 
string, 'i'hen he tiew u|). 'Hien she did the same with the others, one after 
the other. Only two brotluM's were left. ''I'he Bear was very near, and she 
kicked the ball twice, as fast as she could. Then, just as the Bear reached 
her, she kicked the ball for herself, and I hey had all become stars in the sky. 
The Bear stood looking upward, but could not catch them. 'J'hey are 
iiibiitcivaa" (cu1-oll'-he;id, Trsa major).' 

28. SlIELL-Sl'ITTKH, 

TIkmv were two girls, sisters. 'i'he older sister said, "We will go to 
look for Shell-Spitter." There was a man who was poor and who lived 
alone with his old inolher. lie was t he Loon (ce'ibyhi), and his luother was 
Badger-Woman (ba\aouu(,';i"). He heard that two girls were looking for 
Shell-Spillcr. lie went to the children of tlu> camp, and took their shells 
awav from them. The girls ai'rivcd, and asked for Shell-Spitt(>r's tent. It 
was shown tluMii, and they went to it. There stood the Loon. "What 
are you girls looking for?" h.- said. "We are looking for Shell-Spitter." 
"I am he." "Let us see you s[)it shells." He had lilled his mouth with 
shells, and now spit them out. The two girls stooped, and hastilv ])icked 
them up, each trying to snatch them before the other. 'I'hen he took them 
to his tent. His tent was old and poor. His luother was grav-headed. 
He said to them, " I have another tent, ll is Hue and large. I have brought 
you here because there is nion^ room to sUhm)." The girls went inside. 



1 From infonnaut R. Aiiottier version, obtained from inlorniani M, showed the follow imr 
dilTerenees. The Jiear told her little sister, whose hack slit- had seratelied, not to tell that she 
was hurt. If she did tell, all the dofjs in tile eamp would howl. When the little sirl came Ijack, 
her mother tried to make her carry a baby on her back. She cried from pain. Her mother 
questioned her, and she told. Tiic doj^s howled, and the Hear came. The story then continues 
as above, except that her six brotliers f,'ive lh(> liiUc f,'irl a ral)bit to use for its fat in order to 
burn the bear. 'J'he six l)rotliers l)ccome the Pleiades, the fjirl sitting a little at one side of 
them. Compare ."Vraiiaho, Nos. 80, 105, and, for the so-called Maijic Flight, Arapaho, No. 6. 
The Ma^ic Flight is found also in No. 3, and in Arapaho, Nos. 6, 35, 124. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 109 

Soon some one called to the Loon, "Come over! they are making the sun- 
dance!" "Oh!" he said. "Now I have to sit in the middle again, and 
give away presents. I am tired of it. For once they ought to get some one 
else. I am to sit on the chief's bed in the middle of the lodge." He told 
his mother, "Do not let these women go out." Then he went out, and the 
old woman guarded the door. When she was asleep, one of the girls said, 
" I will go out to look." She stepped over the old woman, and went to the 
dance-lodge. Looking in, she saw the people dancing on the Loon's rump. 
On the bed in the middle sat a fine man. Whenever he spit, he spit shells. 
The ground all around him was covered with them. Then the girl went 
back, and called to her sister, "Come out! They are dancing on this man; 
but the one who spits shells sits in the middle of the lodge." Then they 
both went to the lodge. They went inside and sat down behind Shell- 
Spitter. Then the man on the ground, on whom the people were dancing, 
saw them. He jumped up. He killed Shell-Spitter, and ran out. He 
said to his mother, "I told you to watch, and not to let those women out." 
Then he told her, "Dig a hole quickly!" She quickly dug a hole inside 
the tent. He entered it, and then she followed him. The people came, 
I)ut could do nothing. When they stojiped trying to shoot, Badger- 
AVoman came out of the hole, singing in ridicule of Shell-Spitter's death. 
Before the people could reach her, she dropped into the hole again. She 
did this re])eate(lly.^ 

29. Yp:llow-Plume .wd Blue-Plume. 

There were two boys, brothers. One wore a yellow plume on his head, 
the other a l)lue one. They were playing with a wheel painted yellow. 
The one with the yellow plume rolled it toward the one with the blue plume. 
This one threw at it and nii.s.sed it. The wheel kept on rolling. The boy 
with the blue phiine followed it. At last the wheel rolled into the tent of 
an old woman. When the boy came to the tent, he said, " Grandmother, did 
the wheel come into your tent?" "Dirty boy, your wheel did not come 
in here. But come in for a while," she answered. The boy went inside. 
"I am glad to have you here, dirty boy," she said. "Perhaps this will be 
the last of your life. Xow.wait here while I go to get wood to make a fire." 
She went out, got rotten wood, brought it in, piled it up, and lit it. She 
wanted to smother the boy. She closed the door, and put logs along the 
edges of the tent, that he would not escape. The tent filled with smoke; 
but where the bov sat there was no smoke. Looking around, he saw an 



I From informant N. Compare Arapaho. Nos. 89, 121. 



110 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I^ 

awl, took it out of its handle (case?), and stuck it into the ground by the 
door. The old woman said, "Are you still there?" and the awl answ^ered, 
"Yes." "Dirty child, you should have been burned by this time," she 
said. After a time she asked again, "Are you still there?" "Yes, I am 
still here," said the awl. The boy sat altogether untouched by the smoke. 
The (3ld woman asked again, and the awl gave the same answer. She asked 
a fourth time, and the awl answered again. Then she said, "You are still 
speaking, dirty boy: you should have been smothered by this time." She 
took away the logs with which she had closed the tent. She looked in and 
saw the boy. "Dirty child, there you are still sitting! You are the first 
one I have not succeeded in smothering to death. Now I want you to go- 
for water." Then the boy went for water. He brought hack clear water. 
The old woman said, "That is not the kind of water I drink." The boy 
went to get another bucketful, and again brought clear water. When he 
came back, the old woman told him again, "That is not the kind of water 
I use." Again he brought some, and she told him she did not use that kind. 
This time she said to him, "If you get the same kind of water again, I will 
kill you." The boy went out to the stream, thinking what kind of water 
he should get, thinking as hard as he could. A person above his head spoke 
to him, "Go where the spring is, and there get water. That is the kind of 
water the old woman drinks." The boy ran to the spring, which was dirty 
and scummy. When the old woman saw the water, she said, "You may 
live, for that is the kind of water I use. Now you may go home, because 
you have brought it. If you had brought me the wrong water again, I 
should have killed you at once." So the boy went out, taking his wheel' 
with him. When he was off some distance, he called, "Dirty old woman, 
you did not succeed in doing what you wanted. I am more powerful (holy) 
than you." He had left the awl sticking in the ground at the door. The 
old woman had not seen it. When the boy called to her thus, she became 
angry, got up, and cried back, "Why do you talk to me like that, dirty boy?' 
You were about to be allowed to live. Now I will kill you." She started 
to go out and stepped on the awl, which pierced her foot. She lay down 
and went no farther. The boy came back, and told his brother (the one 
wath the yellow pliune), "Brother, while I was away, I was in danger 
from an old woman. She tried to kill me, but somehow I escaped her." 
"W'e will kill her with a flood of water," said his brother. The old woman's 
tent stood in a deep gully. Then they flooded her house with water, and 
she was drowned. That was the end of her life.^ 

1 From informant P. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. Ill 

30. The Swallows and the Sxake. 

There was a high bank where the swallows (byiiteibyi^as^aha") lived. 
A snake went there and ate all the young swallows. When the swallows 
tried to resist the snake, it blew something yellow out of its mouth and killed 
the swallows, so that they fell into the water. The swallows went and got 
the tsootsohih'a" (small birds) to help them, and then the byiitciyeihih'a" 
(another species of small birds) ; but the snake killed them with its yellow 
breath. Then the swallows went to ask the bluebirds to help them. The 
bluebirds came; but the snake breathed hard, the yellow came out, and 
the bluebirds fell into the water dead. Again the swallows flew away, and 
got an owl; but the snake killed it in the same way. The swallows flew 
away and got an eagle to help them. The eagle also fell into the water 
dead. They got a duck, and then a bullet-hawk (aiidy'); but the snake 
breathed, and killed them. Then they brought the birds called ako'uuhuh'a", 
and these, too, were killed. Then they asked the night-hawk to help them. 
The night-hawk tried to break wind against the snake, but was killed. 
Then the swallows got bax'a'a", the thunder. The snake breathed yellow 
at him; but he flew by unhurt, turned in his flight, and came back. Then 
the snake breathed red towards him, and then blue, and then black; but 
it did not hurt him. The fifth time, the thunder seized the snake with his 
bill, threw it U[) in the air and cut it in two.^ 

31. The Origlv of the Tsooyanehi Degree of the Dog-daxce. 

The people were travelling. They left a shaggy ^ dog behind them. 
Then the dog followed the trail of the camp. An old man went out on the 
hills. He saw something following the trail, and wondered what it was. 
He went toward it to see. He saw that it was a dog, and pitied it. Then 
the old man went to sleep by the dog. The dog knew that the old man pitied 
him, and in return he pitied the old man. In his sleep, the dog appeared to 
him and said, "I will give you a dance. It is to be called 'Shaggy Dog' 
(tsooyane'hi)." Then he told the old man how they were to make the dance, 
what they were to wear, and how they were to dance. The dog gave him 
a whistle and a forked rattle and a head-dress of owl-feathers and a shirt 
covered with feathers. The old man after a time gave them to another, 
and so they were passed on to the present. 



1 From informant N. The snake, undoubtedly, is to be conceived as one of the bax'aa" 
or bi'ica°, the supernatural serpent-like water-animals that are the enemies of the thunder. 

2 The original says smooth-haired, but his shirt is rough with feathers. The Arapaho 
also call this dancer "shaggy dog." Probably long-haired is meant. Compare the Arapaho 
account of the origin of the women's buffalo-dance, No. 14. 



112 Ay^thropoloyical Pajjers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

32. The Origin of the Chief Pipe. 

A certain man was jealous of a yoiuig man, and jioisoned him. 
Before tlie young man died, he said, "Do not tie me up. Do not look at 
my tent for four days." Then he died. He was laid inside his tent together 
with much property. The people kept away. After four days a storm 
came. It rained and thundered, and there was lightning in the dark. 
Then a cloud came down. It went up again. It had taken the tent and 
all the property with it. It left in their place a pi])e resting on two forked 
sticks. The bowl of the pipe was to the south. At this end lay buffalo- 
chips (to make fire, with the smoke of which to incense the pipe) and sage 
(on which to lay the pipe) and a bag of red paint. Around the pipe-stem 
was calico of different colors. Under the pipe sat the young man alive. 
The thunder had pitied him. After this the pipe was handed down from 
one man to another. Whenever it was given to a new keeper, the people 
took everything away from him, just as the thunder had taken everything 
from the man who first received it. At last a man died, and the pipe was 
buried with him. The pipe, was called "chief pipe." ^ 

33. Separation of the Tribe. 

Long ago the people were crossing a large body of water. Perhaps it 
was a lake, perhaps it was a river. They were travelling north or south. 
Some had crossed, some had not yet crossed, and some were on the ice. 
A little girl saw a horn sticking out of the ice. She asked her grandmother, 
"Chop it out for me? I want it for a spoon." Her grandmother refused. 
Then the little girl began to cry. The old woman went back and chopped 
the horn out. Then blood flowed. The horn must have belonged to some 
animal under the water, which began to move. The ice broke up. All 
that were on the ice were drowned. The people on the two shores never 
came together again. - 

34. The Cave of the Buffalo. 

To the northwest from the present Gros Ventre reservation there is a 
hole in a hill. The mouth is as large as a house. When the people hunted 
near this hole, they always saw large herds of buifalo. Buffalo-trails led 



1 From informant N. 

2 From informants N and T. Similar traditions are found among the Sarcee (Wilson, Re- 
port of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, 1888), Cheyenne (Grinnell, 
American Anthropologist, 1892, p. 163), and Blackfeet (ibid.). 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 113 

toward the hole from all directions. All about, the ground was beaten into 
dust, and there were piles of manure. When the buffalo were hunted, they 
ran into the hill. Sometimes all entered it before any could be killed. 
Once two brave men went into the cave. They had long sticks with which 
they felt the sides and top of the hole. They kept going farther, and the 
hole grew^ larger. At last they could no longer touch the top or the sides 
of the cave with their sticks. Then they became afraid that they would 
not find their way back in the dark. They returned. They could hear 
the noise of buffalo running inside. It is thought that it is here that all the 
buffalo have disappeared.^ 

35. The Womax axd the Black Dog. 

Outside an old woman's tent a young man lay at night, waiting for 
women. There was a man who had a beautiful wife. In his lodge were 
many people, smoking and talking. The young man outside saw this 
woman come out and take firewood in. Then she came out again and 
went off ut defecaret. Canis niger eam secutus est. Pedibus ei blanditus 
est C|uasi fe.stinaverit. ]\lulier dixit, "Retine! Ximis festinas. Mane 
donee inquinaverim." Cum intjuinavisset, longius abiit et in manus 
genuacjue descendit. Tum canis eam texit. The young man thought, 
"She is a beautiful woman. She should have taken one of the many hand- 
some young men for her lover." When the visitors had left the tent, he 
went in. He said to the man, "You are a good-looking young man, and 
you have a beautiful wife. But she has done something bad." The man 
said, "Yes? Whatever you say shall be done." Juvenis dixit, "Multi 
sunt juvenes, sed canem pro adultera ista habet." Mr mulieri suse dixit, 
"Ne id fecisses. Homo pro amatore a te eligendus fuit." Then he killed 
her. He was deeply ashamed.^ 

30. The ]\Iax borx from a Horse. 

In spring, when tlie mares foal, a mare gave birth to a person. This 
newly born human being was like a colt in that he stood up at once and 
walkc^l about. Soon he talked. The man to whom the mare belonged 
that had given birth to the person, called the people. Wlien they had come 
and stood about in a circle, he said to the colt-person, "I have called all 



1 From informant R. The general idea is common on the Plains. 

2 Told by informant R in answer to the question whether he knew the myth of the woman 
who had children by a dog, told by the Arapaho. This myth does not seem to be found 
among the Gros Ventre. 



114 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 1^ 

these people in order that you may find your father." The colt-person got 
up, walked around the circle, looked at every one, and said to a man, "You 
are my father." The man did not hesitate, but ^vent to him and acknowl- 
edged him as his son. 

37. The Woman and the Horse. 

The people sent out two young men to look for buffalo. They killed 
one and were butchering it. Then one of them said, "I will go to that hill 
and look around; do you continue to butcher." He went on the hill, and 
his companion went on with the butchering. The one on the hill looked 
about him with field-glasses. At Many-Lakes he saw a large herd of wild 
horses. He continued to look at them. Then he saw a person among them. 
Then he saw something streaming behind the person. He thought it was 
a loose breech-cloth. He called his companion, and said to him, "Look!" 
Then they went nearer. They saw that it was indeed a person. They 
thought that it was something unnatural (kaxtawuu). Therefore they 
did not try to disturb the person, but went back. They asked the people, 
"Did you ever miss a person?" An old man said, "Yes. A man once 
lost his wife as the camp moved. She was not found." Thereupon the 
young men told what they had seen. The people thought it must be this 
woman. The whole camp went there. All the people mounted their best 
horses in order to catch her. When they approached the place, they sur- 
rounded the whole country. All of them had mirrors. When they had 
gone all around, they turned the mirrors and reflected with them, signalling 
that the circle was complete. Then they drew together. The four that 
were mounted on the fastest horses started toward the herd. The wild 
horses ran, but, wherever they went, they saw people. The person in the 
herd was always in the lead. The people continued to close up on the 
horses. When they got them into a small space, they began to rope them. 
Six of the horses and the woman escaped. She was exceedingly swift. 
The people headed them off, and at last drove them into an enclosure. 
With much trouble they at last succeeded in fastening one rope on her leg 
and one on her arm. Then they picketed her at the camp like a horse. 
Pubis suae crines equi caudse similes facti erant. At night a young man 
went oiit. He lay down on the ground near her, looking at her. Then the 
woman spoke: "Listen, young man. I will tell you something. You 
must do what I tell you. It is the truth. Long ago the camp was moving. 
I was far behind. I saw a large black stallion come. He had a rope on 
him. I jumped off my horse and caught him, thinking he belonged to some 
one in camp. When I had hold of the rope, he spoke to me. He said. 



1907-1 Kroeber, Gros Ventre Mijths ajid Tales. 315 

'Jump on my back.' Then I climbed on him. He is the one that took 
me away. He is my husband. I have seven children by him, seven young 
horses. There is one, that gray one; there another one, that spotted one; 
there a black painted one; there a black one." She showed him all her 
children. "That is my husband," she said of a black horse that was tied 
near by. "I cannot go back to the tribe now. I have become a horse. 
Let me go. Let us all go. Tie a bell on a horse of such a color; then you 
will be lucky in getting horses. If you will let me loose, I will give you 
forty persons (you will kill forty enemies). If you do not loose me, many 
of the tribe will die." Then the young man went to his father and told 
what the woman had said. The old man went outside and cried it out to 
the people. Then they freed her and the horses. They ran amid flying 
dust, the woman far in the lead.^ 

38. The Little Girl avho was married by a Bear. 

A camp moved and a little girl was left behind. She started to follow 
the peo{)le's tracks. At last she stopped, sat down, and cried. A bear 
called her by name, and said, "Stay with me. I am rich. I can kill buffalo, 
deer, and any kind of game." Then the girl began to make a tent. She 
set it up. The bear ai)i)roached her, turned into a man, and married her. 
The people came back looking for her, and saw a large tent. The little 
girl told them not to come near. She would not allow any one to approach. 
So they went back. Three times they came. The fourth time they asked 
her, "Pity us; we are starving." Then she permitted them to come. They 
made camp close to her, and she gave them dried meat.- 

39. The Youxc; I\Iax who became a Water-monster. 

Two young men who were friends were travelling. They found a trail. 
"Let us go on this trail, my friend," one of them said. They followed and 
followed the trail a long time. At night they would sleep. At last the 
trail went into a hill. They entered the hill, still following the trail. It 
l(>d through the earth out to the other side. They continued to go on, still 
following the trail. They had nothing to eat, and became thin and bony. 
Then they saw a tall person, as large as a tree. He found them and said, 
"Little children, climb on my hand." He took them back with him to the 
camp of his people. They all admired the little men. One day the giants 
saw that they were to be attacked. They went outside and prepared to 



1 Told by informant R. Compare the Arapaho fragment, No. 63, also No. 107. 

2 From informant Q. 



) 



116 Anthrupolugical Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

fight. Then large birds (biiasooihi'h'a") came and fought them. The 
birds had spears on their feet with which they kicked the giants in their 
jugular veins. The giants fell down and bled to death. The two young 
men were inside the tent. One of them said, "Let us look out and see what 
sort of a fight this is that is carried on without noise." They looked, and 
saw the large birds. "They are only birds. Let us take clubs and go out 
and kill them," they said. They went out, and killed many of the birds. 
They drove them away. Then the giants said, "We are very thankful 
that we found these little children, for they killed the large birds, and saved 
us." They kept the men with them for some time, and would not allow 
them to leave. But at last they allowed them to go if they wished; and 
one of the men said, "My friend, let us return." Then they started home. 
They came to the hole from which they had emerged, entered it, and went 
on. Then they saw an animal lying l)efore them. They tried to jump 
over it, but it rose. They tried to go beneath it, but it lowered its body. 
It blocked their way completely. They went back to the mouth of the cave, 
and got wood. With this they built a fire against the side of the animal,, 
and roasted it. Then they saw that it had red meat. One of them said, " I 
will eat some of it." "No, my friend, I love you too much," said the other,, 
and held him. But the one who wanted to eat dragged him to the meat. 
"My friend, if you eat of it, perhaps you will die." "If I do not eat of it, 
I will die of hunger before I reach home," said the other. At last his friend 
let him eat it. Then they went on through the cave, and travelled home- 
ward. Then they slept. During the night the other man woke up and 
looked at his friend. He saw that he had horns, and that from the middle 
down he was like the animal of which he had eaten, being striped with white. 
In the morning he saw that he was a man again. The next night he noticed 
that his friend smelled bad. In the morning he was a human being again. 
The next night they slept by a river. Then the one who changed at night 
started to go into the river. He said to his friend, " You will be lucky steal- 
ing horses, my friend, and you will kill persons. You will not l)e poor. 
When you go by the water, feed me. Feed me only with guts." Then he 
went into the river. His friend cried for him. The water-animal raised 
his head out of the water and told him, "Do not mourn for me. Go home. 
You will be rich." Then he went home and told the peo})le what had 
happened. Whenever he went to war, he was fortunate, and he became 
a chief. ^ 



J From informant N. Compare Arapaho, No. 76, also 78. The visit to the giants is not 
Arapaho. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 117 



40. The Wo.max wfio was recovered from a Water-mox.ster. 

A man accompanied by his wife, Avho had a baby, went to hunt bufi'alo. 
He killed buffalo, and all day was busy cutting them up. In the evening 
he finished. Then they went back only a short distance, and slept near the 
water. Their horses were a little distance off. Far in the night, the woman, 
who was not asleep, saw a bax'aa"^ come out of the water and encircle them. 
It put its head and tail together, completely enclosing them. The woman 
woke the man. He said, "We must jump over it." He jumped. Then 
the woman jumped, but she Ht astride the bax'aa'^, as if on a horse, and it 
started to go away with her. The man tried to pull her off, but she was 
fast; and the bax'aa" entered the water with her. The man cried for her. 
He returned to the camp. Then he came back to the place, carrying his 
baby, which had become very thin. Then his wife rose up out of the water. 
She was a woman from the hips up, and a snake below. She said to him, 
"I pity you. I will suckle the baby." Then she suckled it. Then the 
water rose behind her. The welling came nearer the bank. She said to 
the man, "That is the bax'aa". Load your gun well. When the welling 
water comes close, shoot the place where it flows highest." The water 
rose and approached, imtil the man nearly touched it with his gun. Then 
he shot. The water stirred. He had killed the bax'aa". The woman 
came to the bank, and went half out of the water. The lower part of her 
body was like a snake and smelled bad. She told her husband, "Make 
a sweat-house and sweat me four times. Then I shall be changed to a 
human woman again." The man made the sweat-house and sweated her. 
Thus he recovered his wife.^ 

41. The Max who killed Hawks. 

A certain person used to wear his robe inside out, and carried a hatchet 
on his back. When he saw a hawk high up above him in the air, he would 
point his hatchet at it and the hawk fell down dead.^ 

42. The ^NIax who was kh.led by a Bullet-hawk. 

A man climbed to a difficult place to take young bullet-hawks (aadyi). 
When he reached the nest, the young birds cried. One of the old birds 
flew swiftly down, struck the man with its sharp breast, and split his head.^ 

1 From informant N. Compare, for the recovery of the woman from the monster, Arapaho, 
No .5- for the people encircled bv the monster, Arapaho, Nos. 6 and 74; for the restoration to 
life'in'the sweat -honse. No. 23, aiid Arapaho, Nos. 5, 6, 119, 139-142. 

2 From informant >L ^ From mformant Q. 



118 Anthropological Papers American Museiim of Natural History. [\'ol. I, 

43. The ]Max who was killed by a Bald Eagle. 

A man was catching eagles from a covered pit. A bald eagle lit, and he 
took hold of it. The eagle seized him with its claws and flew up. It carried 
the man up high and dropped him, and he was killed.' 

44. The Woman who tempted axd betrayed her Brother-ix-law. 

There was a man who had two wives. One of them was young and 
beautiful. He had a younger brother, of whom he thought highly. He 
constantly gave him horses and other things. When the young woman 
was alone with the young man, she asked him to be her lover. He refused. 
He said, "My brother tliinks too much of me." But at last he consented. 
Then she said, "Let us elope." He took his brother's best horses, and 
they ran away. They fled for several days. They came to a large camp 
which had just been abandoned. The fires were still burning. There 
were a number of shades made of cottonwood-branches. They went from 
one to another. Then they saw something hanging in one of the shades. 
It was an elk-skin case. They examined it. It contained a shield, a lance, 
a rawhide bag to hold war paraphernalia, and a buckskin bag for clotliing. 
Then the young man said, "Whoever camped here forgot this. He will 
come back for it. W^e will wait here, and when he comes I will kill him. 
If I kill him, I will make a sun-dance and a crazy-dance. Whoever he is, 
I will try to make peace mth him when he comes. I will smoke with him, 
and suddenly seize him and hold him. While I hold him, you must bring 
that lance there and stab him with it." After a time they saw a man coming 
on horseback. They had tied their horses in the brush so that they would 
not be seen, and they themselves were inside the shelter. When the man 
was near, the Gros Ventre came out and made signs for him to stop. Then 
the other stopped, and asked by signs, "What do you want?" The Gros 
Ventre said, "I had intended to find your camp, but I got here too late. 
I want to talk with you and smoke with you. I was sent by the people 
to make peace with you. After we have smoked, I will go with you to your 
camp." Then the stranger said, "Very well. Put down your weapons, 
and I will put down mine. We will meet in the middle, and smoke." Then 
the Gros Ventre held u}) his weapons and each piece of his clothing, and 
laid them down until he had taken off all his clothes. He kept only his pipe. 
The stranger did the same. Then they met. The stranger sat dow7i, 
but the (iros Ventre put only one knee on the ground. He lit the pipe 



1 From informant Q. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 119 

with a flint, held it out with two hands, and said, "Take it and smoke it, 
that I may kill you." The other took the pipe, smoked it, and handed it 
back to the Gros Ventre, holding it in the same way. The Gros Ventre 
handed it back to him, pointing at the same time in another direction. 
When the stranger looked in that direction, he sprang upon him. They 
fought, rolling back and forth. The Gros Ventre repeatedly called to the 
woman to bring the spear. But she would not bring it. She had fallen in 
love with the stranger, whom she thought more beautiful than her brother- 
in-law. He got on top of the Gros Ventre. Then he made signs to the 
woman to bring the spear. She came with it, and stabbed her brother-in- 
law. She stabbed him several times in the side and in the shoulder. She 
did not wound him severely. She only hit the bone. The two men continued 
to roll about until they came near the place where the young Gros Ventre 
had left his knife. Then he came on top. He released the other, jumped 
up, got his knife, and, before the other rose to his feet, was back at him and 
killed him. Then he took the woman back with him. He did not kill her. 
He took her to his older brother. He told him everything. The older 
brother said, "She ought not to have asked you to run off with her. She 
did wrong." He took her down to the river. He cut off one of her breasts. 
Then he cut off the other. One by one they cut off all her limbs until she 
was dead.' 

45. The Wo.m.w who tried to betray her Brother-in-law. 

A man who had a younger brother, and was married, lived away from 
the camj). His wife was in love with his brother, and, when her husband 
went out to hunt buffalo, she asked the young man to be her lover. He 
refused. He took his robe, his shield, and his spear, and went out to where 
the horses were. The Avoman followed him, and again urged him. Then 
he mounted a horse and rode oft". She caught a well-broken horse, and, 
using her belt as a bridle, followed him. Then she came up with him. At 
night he used his saddle as a jjillow, and pretended to sleej). She lay down 
beside him. Late at night he got up and fled. She had been watching 
him, and followed. Then they came to a deserted camp. On an elevation 
above the camp was a shelter. In this hung a mirror reflecting the sun. 
They saw it, and waited. Soon the owner of the mirror came, a Ute. The 
Gros Ventre signed to him to put down his weapons, and laid down his 
own. He signed to the Ute that he would give him a smoke. When he 
reached him the pipe, he jumped on him and they struggled. The Gros 

1 From informant R. For this and the following version, compare Arapaho, No. 114. 



120 Anthropohxjical Papers American Museum of Natural History. [\o\. I, 

Ventre was stronger, and got on top of his adversary. Then he called 
to the woman, who came, but stabbed him in the side. Then the Gros 
Ventre pledged a sun-dance if he killed the Ute. He struck one of his arms 
and broke it, then the other and broke that too. Then he killed the Ute, 
and scal]:)ed him. Then he and the woman returned. She wanted to kiss 
him. "There will be time enough to kiss when we get back," he said. 
They hid in the mountains in order to avoid the Utes. Then they came 
back to the camp, and entered his elder brother's tent. The young man 
had painted his face black, and called all the people. Then he told how 
his sister-in-law had tried to seduce him and afterwards to betray him. 
Then the woman's husband called to her mother, "Bring out your daughter! 
This is the last day of her life." Then he antl his younger brother went 
out of the camp. The woman followed them, and as she passed l)etween 
them, both of them shot. She dropped. They did not biny her, but left 
her to the dogs.^ 

46. The Bad ^YIFE. 

There was a camp-circle. A man went out with a war-party. While 
he was away, the Crows attacked the camp and captured his wife. When 
he came back and asked for her, the people told him, "The Crows have 
taken her." Then he took his three brothers and three brothers-in-law 
with him and started out. They came to the Crow camp. The man said 
to his six companions, "Wait here in hiding. I will go into the brush, and 
where the women go to get water I will watch for my wife." He waited 
all the morning. Many women came, but not his wife. At last she came. 
The man jumped out, caught her, and said, "I have come to take you back." 
She asked him, "How many are there of you? Where are they?" He 
said, "There are your three brothers and my three, and they are in that 
place." The woman said, "Wait for me there, and I will steal something 
and bring meat for you to take with you." The man went back to his 
six companions, and told them, "She will soon come here." The woman 
went back to the Crow camp, took a coal, chewed it, rubbed it over her face, 
and, where a number of men sat smoking, said, "This sun has given me 
seven persons. They are there in the brush." Some of the men said, 
"That woman is crazy;" but some believed her. She continued to say, 
"The sun has given me seven persons. They are there in the brush," and 
she painted her face, and rejoiced. At last the people believed her. They 
went and surrounded the place where the seven men were hiding, shot at 
them, and killed six. But the man himself they could not kill. He went 

1 From informant N. Compare the preceding version. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 121 

straight to the Crow camp-circle. He entered the largest tent, wliich stood 
in the middle. There was his wife. A crowd followed him in. He told 
his wife, "I want to smoke and to drink." The Crows asked her, "What 
does he say?" The woman said, "He says you are to dig two holes and 
set two trees into them, and connect them at the top by a pole. Then you 
are to hang him there by the neck. Stretch his arms and tie them, and 
leave him, moving camp. Thus he says." Some of the Crows did not 
believe her. But the woman continued to say the same until they all 
believed her. Then they dug the holes and stuck up the poles, and hung 
the man and left him. An old Crow woman pitied the man, and waited 
until the whole camp, including even the dogs, had gone. Then she un- 
loaded her travois in the brush, went to the man, cut him down, and washed 
his face. She cooked dried sliced meat and gave him to eat, and then 
took him along mth her hidden on her travois. When she came to the 
Crow camp, she put up her tent outside of the circle, brought water, and 
started a fire. Then she called her sons to smoke with the man. She called 
him her son. The men said, "If you pitied him, you should have told us." 
They gave him clothes, for he had been hung up naked. Then the man 
said, "I will go back. I will return soon with all my people in order to get 
my wife. Always camp together at the rear of the camp-circle, at the end 
which is in the direction from which you have just come. If the tribe 
divides, put rocks in a row along the trail which that part of the people 
have taken with whom my wife is." Then he asked his new brothers, 
"What kind of a horse does this woman ride?" They told him, "She 
always rides a black-painted short-tailed horse which is very fast." Then the 
man went back to his people, running ceaselessly. After he had returned, 
he cut tobacco into little pieces. Young men took these to the Piegans, 
the Blackfeet, the Bloods, and the North Piegans (Sarcees). Soon all the 
tribes gathered, and joined the Gros Ventre. They started against the 
Crows. Whenever they stopped, they raced their horses to discover who 
had the fastest. They came near the Crows. The man made them all 
stop behind the hill, and went alone to his Crow mother. Then she called 
her sons, and the man told them, "Take all your property inside your tent. 
Hobble your horses close by, and stay indoors." The Crows were just 
breaking camp. They asked the old woman and her sons, "Why do you 
remain encamped there ?" They answered, "We are going off somewhere." 
When the Crows had begun to move, the war-party attacked them. While 
they were fighting and killing the Crows, the man's younger brother, mounted 
on the swiftest horse, was only looking for the woman. He was far ahead 
of the fight. Then he saw the black-painted horse with the short tail, and 
the woman on it. He rode after her and caught up with her. He took 



122 Anthwpolojical Papers American Museut?i of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

her bridle and turned her, and went back with her to the camp of the old 
Crow woman. On the way the woman said, "Let me kiss you, my brother- 
in-law; I have been longing for you." He answered, "There will be time 
for that when we arrive where we are going." As soon as the woman was 
captured, the people stopped fighting the Crows. The old Crow woman 
began to sharpen her knife, and had them build a large fire. They took 
the woman off her horse, and made her stand up. "I know what to do to 
her," said the old woman. She went to her, seized her nose, cut it off and 
threw it in the fire. Then she tore in two her bell-covered dress, and threw 
it on the fire. Then she cut off her breasts, ejus vaginae labia, and her 
ears, and threw them in the fire. Tlien they threw the woman herself 
into the fire. A great crowd stood about, and whenever she crawled out 
on one side they threw her in again. Finally she was burned. They all 
went home rejoicing.^ 

47. The Man who acquired Invulnerability. 

There was a poor man. He wandered about. Then he found snakes 
in a hole. He cut his flesh and fed it to the snakes. He cut himself all 
over. He gave the snakes even his ears, and cut off his little finger and threw 
it to them. Then, before he should bleed to death, he jumped into the hole. 
All the snakes retreated from him as he lay there. Then one young snake 
said, "Why do you draw back? I pity this man. I will give him power 
and make him strong." Then its father and mother said, "It is well that 
you pity him. We will help you to do something for him. You shall go 
into him and stay in his body. Then he will be unkillable." Then the 
young snake entered the man's mouth and went into his body, and the two 
old snakes gave him each a rattle from their tails. The man got up and 
went off. But now he no longer had scars on him. He came to where 
the people were shooting bears in a hole. Again he cut flesh from his body 
and fed it to them. Then he lay down in the den in order to bleed to death 
there. A young bear said to the others, "You do not pity this man, but I 
will help him." Then his father and mother said, "We will give him the 
strength of our bodies, and he will be invulnerable." The young bear 
entered the man's mouth, and the two old ones gave him each one of their 
claws. They gave him the longest one on their feet. Then the man went 
away. A certain young man saw a bax'aa'\ He told the man who had 
been to the snakes and the bears. Then the man went to the river, cried, 
cut off his flesh and threw it in. He also cut his little finger and threw it 

1 From informant N. Not Arapaho. Compare Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales, p. 39. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 123 

in the river. Then the bax'aa"! rose up out of the water halfway. He 
hooked the water ^\dth one of his horns, and where the man had been lying 
on the bank, bleeding to death, he was now riding a white horse and carrying 
a shield and spear, and was beautifully dressed. Then the bax'aa" hooked 
the water with his other horn, and a painted horse stood on the bank. " You 
will not be poor," said the bax'aa", and he hooked innumerable horses of 
different colors, and much property of different kinds, out of the water, 
until horses were standing all about the bank of the river. The bax'aa^^ 
said to him, "You will be the only man on this earth rich in horses (the 
richest in horses)." After this, the man fed liis flesh to many kinds of ani- 
mals. He gave himself to eagles, to jack-rabbits, to the buffalo, and to 
horned toads. Then the snakes told him to take six poor people with him. 
He did so and they started out, seven in the party. They reached a lake. 
They saw many people travelhng toward the lake. Then they went into 
the water and lay down. The camp arrived, and every one watered his 
horses at the lake. An old woman came and drove her horse into the 
water. She saw a mouth in the water, and riding out, told the people, 
"I have seen persons in the water." Then these people killed the man's 
six companions; but the man himself they could not kill. Spears, stones, 
and aiTows could not hit him or hurt him. He continued to sing his song. 
Then they cut him to pieces, and scattered the pieces about. When they 
moved camp, the man rose up alive. He went to where they were camped, 
and hid in the brush. A woman came to get wood. He seized her, and 
with a large knife cut her to pieces. All the people took him and tried to cut 
and stab him. They cut him to pieces and moved camp. He rose up alive, 
and again went to where they had camped. Again he killed a woman 
who was gathering wood. Thus the people would Idll him and move camp; 
but he would return to life, follow them, and kill one of them. Then he 
killed many, because he felt bad that this tribe had killed his six companions. 
He continued to do this until his feet became too sore to walk. Then he 
stole horses and a shield and robes, and returned home, driving the horses 
before him. When he came back to his own people, he had a bundle of 
scalps hanging at his side. Thereafter he w^ould go to war, kill a man or a 
woman, and bring back a herd of horses. He continued to do this until 
he became very rich. But he would not marry. Then he went off again 
and returned with horses. While he was away and the people were hunting 
buffalo, the Cheyenne attacked them, and captured and took away a small 
boy. When the man returned, he heard about this. The little boy had 
a sister who was pretty. She was old enough to be married. Then the 
man said, "I ^vill go to bring back the little boy, and when I bring him, I 
will marry this girl." When her father heard this, he said, "It is well: if 



124 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

he brings back the boy, he can have my daughter." Then the man started 
out, accompanied by a party. They killed two persons, and captured 
horses. The man sent all the rest of the party back with the horses. He 
himself went to the Cheyenne camp, looking for the boy. The Cheyenne 
were having a sun-dance. The man looked on. Then he heard a sound, 
and saw the boy tied to the centre pole of the lodge. His arms were drawn 
back around the tree, and he was hanging at the fork. He was painted 
black. The man looked for a suitable pole among those extending over 
the lodge. He climbed up, went along it to the tree in the middle, and cut 
the boy loose. As the boy was very stiff, he took the cloth that had been 
hung at the top of the lodge as an offering, wrapped him in it, and, carrying 
him as a woman carries her child, began to climb down again. Before he 
reached the ground, a Cheyenne saw him, and they all stopped dancing. 
The man said to the Cheyenne, "Do not kill me until to-morrow. Who is 
the chief? Where is the largest tent?" Then he went to the largest tent 
and staid there that night. Next day he told the Cheyenne, "Get seven 
buffalo-skulls and place them in a row. I will jump from one to another, 
and, if I miss or stumble, you can kill me." Then they put the seven skulls 
in a row, and he started. He jumped from one to another like a rabbit, 
and when he came to the last one he continued to leap along, carrying 
the boy with him. As he went, he turned into a rabbit. He wished for a 
hole, put the boy into it and covered it with a buffalo-chip. Then he ran 
on and wished for another hole, went into it and covered it with grass. 
The Cheyenne were running all about, looking for him in vain. At last 
the man came out of his hole. He looked for a buffalo-horn. When he 
found one, he washed it in the river, and brought a drink to his little brother- 
in-law. He told the boy, "Wait for me, and I ^\dll bring horses and meat." 
He WTnt again to the Cheyenne camp and took two spotted horses, some 
meat, robes, and a shield. He went back to the boy, and said to him, 
"Now come out." He tied the boy on a horse, and they started off. At 
a stream in the mountains they rested. There he cooked for the boy. 
Then they went on, resting whenever the boy was in need of it. At last 
they returned to the camp. A tent had been set up for him, and about it 
stood many horses of different colors; and he married the girl. She wore 
a dress covered with elk-teeth, and rings and bracelets. The people took 
the man for their chief. His name was Hat'uxu (Star). 

The people were camped. Young men found a herd of buffalo, and 
an old man cried out that they would hunt. Hat'uxu took many horses 
with him. He wanted to kill much. He told liis wife, "Tie all the horses 
abreast, and follow me. Give away none of what I kill." Then he went 
ahead, hunted, killed buffalo, and began to cut them up. ^Nleanwliile the 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 125 

enemy came, and captured liis wife and her horses. When Hat'uxu had 
at last finished cutting up liis buffalo, he stuck his knife in liis scabbard, 
and went back to where he had left his wife. She was gone, but he saw her 
tracks and those of the people who had captured her. He followed her at 
once. He had no weapons with him except his knife. He reached the 
mountains where he thought he would be able to intercept the enemy. 
He tied his horses, and climbed a tree. Soon he saw the enemy coming, 
riding in file. His wife was among them, carrjdng on her back their quiver 
of large arrows. It was nearly dark. Hat'uxu came down from his tree, 
and went to where the enemy had camped for the night. He threw aside 
the blanket which they had hung up as a door for tlieir brush hut, and 
went inside. He saw his wife sitting next to one of the men, who had taken 
her for his -wiie. He killed the man. Then he used the arrows, which his 
wife had been carrying, against the rest. They all ran off into the brush. 
Then he cut off the dead man's head and took it with him. He told his 
wife to carry the captured arrows and to collect all the enemy's horses. 
By next morning he was back at the camp. Then the people celebrated 
over the head he had brought back with him. Thus he recaptured his wife.^ 

48. The ^Iax who recaptured his AYife. 

While a man was away, the enemy captured his wife. He returned 
and found her gone. He did not know to what tribe she had been taken. 
Another woman had been captured at the same time, but returned. Then 
this man called her to him and asked her, "Where is my wife?" The 
returned woman said, "I know where she lives, for I went to visit her while 
I was a captive. She has two husbands who dress alike. They have fine 
pipes, and tobacco-bags fringed with bells, and pipe-stokers. There are 
many fierce dogs among those people. If you go there, first kill a buffalo, 
and carry the meat with you to throw to the dogs." Then the man got his 
brothers and his brothers-in-law, and they started out. They came to 
the place where the captured woman lived. He told his brothers and 
brothers-in-law to stay at the river. He liimself went on. The lodges 
stood in rows. When he entered the village, the dogs began to attack him. 
As he Avent along, he threw each dog a piece of meat. They became quiet. 
He came to the lodge in which lived his wife, and knocked softly at the 
door. She put out her head. Then he said to her, "I am your husband. 
I have come to take you back. Is there any one inside with you?" She 
said, "There is one. He is sleeping." Then he told her, "Lie on him, 

1 Told by informant N. 



126 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

and I will cut his throat." Then she lay on him, and the man entered 
and cut his throat. He took the dead man's clothes and a dress of the 
woman's that was covered with bells, and rolled them up in his robe. The 
woman carried the bundle in one hand and the head of the dead person 
in the other, and they went out. The man threw meat to the dogs again. 
Then they ran. They came to his brothers and her brothers, and together 
they all fled until they returned. Thus the man recaptured his wife.^ 

49. The Woman who married the Snake Indian. 

There was a camp. A man who lived there had a sister that many 
young men wanted to buy. But she did not wish to marry. Her brother, 
also, did not wish to sell her. He left the camp with her and his wife, and 
went toward the mountains. There he camped. A Snake who was in the 
mountains saw his camp. He saw that there were only two tents. In 
the evening he saw a man and a woman go into one and a woman go into 
the other. At night he came down from the mountains, and entered the 
tent into which he had seen the woman go alone. In the morning, before 
the morning star arose, he went out. When it was day, the man's wife 
brought food to her sister-in-law's tent. But the girl would not eat. She 
would not speak. She thought that her brother had slept with her. AYhen 
the man heard from his wife that his sister neither ate nor spoke, he said, 
"Ask her if she wants to go back to the camp of the people." The woman 
asked her, but the girl said, "No." Then she asked her brother's wife, 
"Did my brother go out last night?" The woman said, "No. He went 
to bed early, and slept at once." Then the girl said, "To-night tie a string 
from inside my tent to your wrist in your tent." Then it became night. 
The man and his wife were half asleep. The Snake came into the girl's 
tent and lay down with her as if he were with his wife in his own tent. Then 
the girl pulled the string. The woman in the other tent got up, made a fire, 
and said to her husband, " You have a brother-in-law: go give him a smoke." 
Then she went to the other tent and lit the fire there. Then the man came 
in too, and gave the Snake liis filled pipe to smoke. Then they gave him 
food to eat. The man gave him arrows, a gun, horses, a panther-skin, 
saddle-blanket, and otter-skin. At first the Snake feared him and his wife. 
x\fter they had remained camped there for some time, he feared them no 
longer. Then they went back to the camp, ^^'hen they arrived, all the 
people tried to kill the Snake; but his brother-in-law w^ould not allow them 
to approach him. The girl's parents gave the Snake horses and clothing. 

1 Told by informant N. 



1907.] 



Krocber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 127 



He learned to talk Gros Ventre. After he had lived with the Gros Ventre 
a year, he told his wife, "I will take you with me to the Snakes." She 
said, "Very well. I will ask my relatives if they will allow me to go with 
you.' I will ask their permission in order that they may give us clothes to 
take with us." Her relatives gave their consent, and presented the Snake 
and his wife with painted horses and other property. When everything 
had been arranged, they left, talcing mth them their tent and all their gifts. 
Before they reached tlie Snakes, they stopped in the woods, dismounted, 
changed their clothes for some that were old and dirty, and mounted poorly- 
saddled, miserable horses. Then they rode toward the Snake camp. The 
Snakes tried to kill the woman. "Look at that woman!" they said. "He 
has married her, and see how poor he is!" At night the man and his wife 
went to bed without any blanket. When they thought everybody was asleep, 
they went to the woods, put on their best clothing, and came back. The 
man wore a fine buckskin shirt and leggings fringed with weasel-skins, 
and the woman's dress was fine. They rode painted horses beautifully 
saddled. When they returned in the morning, a man saw them coming. 
"Here comes the man whose mfe they tried to kill! Now he is a cliief!" 
he cried. Then the woman brought her tent and began to put it up. It 
was very large. All her husband's female relatives helped her. Then they 
brought her and her husband food. The man told the Snakes that he would 
take his wife back to the Gros Ventre the next summer. Next summer 
the Snakes made fine clothing, and gave it to him and his wife. They 
also gave them horses and many other things. When they started to go 
back to the Gros Ventre they had more property than when they came. 
Then thev did the same as when they came to the Snakes. They hid all 
their property and fine clothing in the brush, and put on the dirty clothes. 
When they reached the Gros Ventre camp, the people tried to kill the man. 
They saicl, "Why did you give her to that man? He is poor; his clothes 
are dirty; 'his horses are bad." At night the man and his wife went back 
into the brush and put on their beautiful clothes. When they returned to 
the camp in the morning, a man cried out, "Look at the man we tried 
to kill' He is dressed finelv. He has become a chief." Then the Snake 
crave presents to all his v.'iie's relatives. Then the Gros Ventre and the 
Snakes came together and made friendship, and no longer fought each other. 
The Snake lived with the Gros Ventre ever after.^ 



1 From informant N. Not Arapaho. Compare Grinnell, Pawnee Hero Stories, p. 25. 



, 128 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

50. The Woman who revenged her Brothers. 

Three men went to war. Two of them were killed. iVll the people 
cried and mourned for them. The father and mother of the dead men 
cut their hair short, and gashed themselves on the legs and on the body. 
But the sister of the two dead men did not cry and did not speak. The 
family hid all their knives and ropes, for they thought she would kill herself. 
\ Then her husband said to her, "Pity me. Do not kill yourself. I am 

/ V accustomed to you. I do not want you to kill yourself." She said, "I will 

do what you wish. But saddle a horse for me. I am going to a high moun- 
tain to sleep there. I did not cry or speak because I did not know what 
to do." Then her husband brought her to the foot of the mountain. There 
she dismounted, left her moccasins, and went to the top. She slept there 
four nights, fasting. The fourth night the thunder gave her a short spear. 
He said to her, "Go home: tell your husband to make a sweat-house. Go 
into tliis alone. Afterwards go to the creek and drink." Then she went 
down. Her husband came to meet her. She said to him, "Stop at once 
where you are." Then he did not approach. She told him, "Go back 
I immediately, and have the young men build a sweat-house. Let only 

J; young men make it, and let them leave the entrance open for me." The 

man went back and told the young men. They went and cut willows. 
Soon they had a sweat-house ready. Then the woman came, very thin 
from fasting, and using the spear to support herself. At times she fell 
from weakness. She entered the sweat-house, sweated, went out to the 
stream, and drank. Then she told her relatives, "I "wdll kill an enemy." 
After some days she said, "We are going to hunt for the one who Idlled my 
brothers." Then her husband took four good horses, and he and his 

), wife started alone. On the third day they saw tents by a river that came 

out of the mountains. They followed the river up towards the camp. 
It was near sunset. The woman bathed, and painted herself, and perfumed 
herself. Telling her husband to hold the horses ready in the brush, she 
went towards the camp. As she went she found pieces of her brothers' 
bones. Their bodies had been burned. At the camp the people had begun 
• i I to dance on account of her slain brothers. In' the bright moonlight the 

I ) women were dancing back and forth in a row. The woman went among 

them and danced. She saw a man fill a pipe and extend it to the other men. 
She knew that this man had killed one of her brothers. She went to him, 
and touched him on the back. He turned around, and at once desired her. 
He turned over his pipe, knocked out the ashes, put the pipe into its sack, 
and followed her. She walked off and went into the brush. He followed 
her. She stopped, and he came up. She took hold of him and pushed 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 129" 

him to the ground. He let himself fall willingly and she lay upon him. 
Then she took her knife and cut his throat. She cut off his head, took off 
all his clothes, wrapped them and the head in his robe, and ran to her hus- 
band. When she reached him she said, "I bring you a head." He struck 
it, counting coup. Then they fled. They did not go back as they had 
come, but in another direction. All next day they hid in the brush. There 
they skinned the head, and kept the scalp. Then they returned home. 
When they arrived, the woman's mother ran out and kissed her. The 
woman said, "I bring you a head for you to enjoy yourselves with." Then 
all the people took charcoal and grease, and struck the skin of the head; 
and as each one struck it, he painted himself. So this woman avenged the 
death of her brothers. Then the enemy came in order to obtain revenge. 
They attacked the camp. The woman mounted a swift horse, took her 
short spear, and charged the enemy. She put them to flight, drove them 
before her, and overtook and killed many. She ran them down like buffalo. 
Four times the camp was attacked, and she drove off the enemy. Then 
two men who went to war were killed. The people thought she would go 
to revenge them. But she fought no more. After the four fights she 
ceased.^ 



1 Told by informant N. 



130 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. 1, 

ABSTRACTS. 

1. The Making of the Earth. 

There is only water. A person sends animals to dive. A turtle brings him up 
mud, from which he makes the earth and the mountains. 

2. Origin Myth. 

Nix'a'H resolves to destroy the former race. He takes the sacred pipe, and 
causes a flood. He floats on the pipe, accompanied by the Crow. He unwraps the 
pipe, and takes out the Loon, the Small Loon, and the Turtle. They dive, and the 
Turtle brings up a little earth. Nix 'a.nt drops this into the water, and it expands 
sufficiently for him to sit on. Then he stretches out his anns and the land extends. 
There is no water, and he is thirsty. He cries. His tears make a river. He makes 
men and women and animals from earth. He gives men the bow and arrow, and 
to the Gros Ventre the sacred pipe. He predicts another world. 

3. Tebiaa'^'ta^, the Two Women, the Bald Eagle, and Nix'a^t. 

Two women who live alone are provided with game. They see that a rolling 
head brings the meat. They leave awls in their places, and flee. The head comes, 
and the bones speak to him like women. He pierces himself on one. He pursues 
the women. As they flee, they successively cause a fog, a swamp, a thorny thicket, 
and a cactus-thicket to extend behind them. The head crosses all obstacles, and 
the women take refuge with a man who hides them. As soon as the head has gone 
by them, they flee to the Bald Eagle, who takes them on his wings. The head pursues 
the Eagle, and nearly overtakes him. Nix'a"t's two sons see the contest in the sky, 
and tell their father. He builds a sweat-house and calls to the Eagle to come down. 
The Eagle flies through the sweat-house. "When the head pursues, the sweat-house 
is closed around him. Then steam is made in it, and the head is killed. 

4. Nix'a'^t obtains Summer and the Buffalo. 

Nix'a"t comes to a camp where the snow is perpetual and there are no buffalo. 
He tells a boy to cry until he himself asks the reason, when he is to say that he 
wishes to see bare ground and to eat buffalo. The boy does this. Nix'a^t turns 
into a little dog, which is found by the grand-daughter of the old woman who keeps 
the buffalo. The girl at last persuades the old woman to allow her to have the dog. 
The dog sees the old woman get buffalo from an opening in her tent, and make the 
snow melt with the contents of a bag. When the girl takes him away from the tent, 
he turns into Nix'ai^t. When the girl cries and her grandmother comes, he runs, 
seizes the bag, opens the hole, and drives out the buffalo. Clinging to the last 
of the buffalo, he escapes the old woman. He scatters the contents of the bag, 
and the snow disappears. He returns to the camp. Next morning it is summer 
and the buffalo are about. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 131 

5. Nix'a^t is taught to call Buffalo. 

Nix'a^t learns to call the buffalo by singing. They overrun him, and lie upon 
him. Lepus ciun eo ano copulat. Nix'a"t inquinans lepores ex ano parit. Cum 
toga eos capere conatur, hanc conspurcat. 

6. Nix'a^'t axd the Mouse. 

Xix'a^t muri suum penem trans penem ad mulierem ducere persuadet. Mus 
penem ad locum asperum ducit et Nix'a^t se Isedit. 

7. Nix'a^'t and the Mice's Sun-dance. 

Nix 'a^t, finding mice holding a sun-dance in an elk-skull, tries to look in. His 
head becomes fast in the skull. Wandering along, he falls into the river and drifts 
to bathing girls. They pull him ashore. Unam virginum violat. Matri ut filiam 
eripiat venienti persuadet sibi calvam perfrangere. Alcis calva liberatus, discedit. 

8. Nix'a^t eats Fat. 

Nix'a^t postquam pingue in flumine innatans invenit ab eo est donee tantum 
inquinat ut quasi excrementorum lacu circumdetur. 

9. Nix'a^'t e.\ts Hiitceni. 

Nix'a^t radices est qu£e eum crepare faciunt. Quandocunque crepat sursum 
jactatur. 

10. Nix'a^t and the Bird with the Large Arrow. 

Nix'a^t taunts a bird that it cannot shoot its very large arrow. At last the 
Bird shoots at him, and, when he takes refuge behind a rock, shoots the rock on him. 
The Night-hawk releases him. Nix'a'^t spreads its bill. 

11. Nix'a^t loses his Eyes. 

Nix 'a"t learns from a l)ird how to send his eyes out of his head. After a time 
they do not return. By borrowing the Mouse's eyes, he recovers his own. 

12. Nix'a^'t kills his Wife. 

Nix'a^t mourns for his wife. A man strikes his wife and doubles her, giving 
one of the women to Nix'a'H. Nix'a"t strikes his new wife to make women for 
widowers. The fourth time he strikes her, he kills her. 

13. Nix'a^t and the Bear-Women. 

Nix 'a^t, diving for the reflection of fruit in the water, nearly drowns. He comes 
to Bear- Women, and sends them for the fruit. He cooks their babies. When they 
have eaten the children, he flees. Pursued by the bears, he takes refuge in a hole. 
Emerging at the other end, he changes his appearance, and comes to the Bear- Women. 
Persuading them to enter the hole, he smokes them to death. 



V' 



132 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 

14. Nix'a^'t and the Dancixg Ducks. 

Nix'ant causes ducks and other animals to dance about him with closed eyes. 
Then he kills them. ^Vliile he cooks them, he sleeps. The wolves devour his feast. 
In punishment, he burns himself. 

15. Nix'a^'t's Adventures. 

(a) With the Mice's Sun-dance. 

Nix'a^t finds mice dancing in a skull. His head becomes fast in the skull, 
and he falls into the river. He is drawn out by women, of whom he seizes and 
violates one. He flees, pursued by the women. He enters a hole, emerges on the 
other side, changes his appearance, returns, persuades the women to enter the hole, 
and smokes them to death. 

(6) With the Women ^cho loused him. 

He comes to two women, and persuades them to louse him. While he sleeps, 
they put burrs in his hair. He cuts his hair, pretending that he has been told that 
his wife was dead. 

(c) With his Daughters. 

He pretends to die, and leaves instructions that his daughters are to many a 
one-eyed man. He makes it appear that wolves have eaten him, covers one eye, 
and returns to his tent, marrying his daughters. The girls suspect him, and at last 
his wife discovers him. He flees. 

(d) With the Woinan icho crossed the River. 

Disguising himself as a woman, he travels with a %Aoman whom he meets. 
Psene dum flumen transeunt patefactus, eam violat. 

((') With the Sleeping Woman. 

Fseces in mulieris dormientis vestem ponit et dedecus patefacere minatur nis 
sibi amorem concedat. 

(/) With the Buffalo he called and the Rabbit. 

He is taught to call buffalo by singing. The buffalo fall on him. Lepus cum 
€0 ano copulat. Lepusculos Nix'a^t ex ano parit. Hos capere conatus togam 
conspurcat. Ad castra currit damans Inquinantes Pieganos se foedum fecisse. 

16. OxE-EYED Owl and his Daughter. 

A man pretends to die, and then returns disguised, and marries his daughter 
He is discovered and beaten by his wife. 

17. The ]\Iax who wext to War with his Mother-ix-law. 

A man persuades his wife to send his mother-in-law to war with him. At night 
he throws stones at her shelter until she thinks there is a ghost about et petit ut cum 
•eo dormiat. Tum se pvibeni frigere queritur vir, et mulieris mater permittit ut 
penem copulando calfaciat. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Ventre Myths arid Tales. 133 



18. The Kit-fox and the Ghost. 

A kit-fox coming to a corpse says that it stinks. Wlien the dead person ap- 
proaches, the kit-fox declares that he said that the smell was sweet. He flees, and 
as the ghost pursues him, nms into a hole, but has the end of his tail pulled off. 

19. Fouxd-ix-the-Grass. 

A man warns his wife not to speak to any one who may come to the tent during 
his absence. After a time she disobeys his instructions, and a person enters. He 
will not eat the food she offers him until she places it on her body. Then he cuts 
her open, throwing away the twin boys with whom she is pregnant. Her husband 
finds her dead and goes off to mourn. His arrows are repeatedly scattered about 
his tent. He watches, and finds the two boys playing. He catches one of them. 
With his help, he succeeds in capturing the other. The boys tell him to put their 
mother into a sw'eat-house. They shoot up into the air, and their mother emerges 
from the sweat-house. Their father warns them not to use their arrows twice. 
After a while the younger boy is tempted, and shoots his arrow a second time. 
He is blown away by the wand. He is found in the grass by an old woman, who 
takes him for her grandson. A man announces that whoever brings a porcupine 
may marry his daughters. Found-in-t he-Grass persuades the old woman to make 
a trap for him. He catches a porcupine, but the Crow steals it. Found-in-the- 
Grass finds a quill in his* trap, shows it, and is thereupon given the younger daughter, 
while the Crow marries the older. The two sisters ridicule each other's husbands. 
In time of famine the Crow announces that he will bring buffalo, but fails. Found- 
in-the-Grass goes out and brings buffalo. "\Mien his wife carries the entrails home, 
he causes the blood to flow over her, and it turns to red clothing. His sister-in-law 
asks to have the blood made to flow over her; but it only dirties her. 

20. Clotted-Blood. 

An old man is treated badly and almost starved by his son-in-law. He finds 
and hides a clot of blood, which in the kettle turns to a child. The child is swung 
on four sides of the tent, and becomes a young man. WTien the son-in-law again 
threatens the old man, Clotted-Blood kills him. He burns his body, and kills all 
his wives but one. He travels, and comes to a tree that kills people by falling on 
them. He turns to a feather and is uninjured, while the tree falls and breaks. 
He comes to a bridge which sinks with people. "\Mien it goes down, he jumps to 
the other shore, and the bridge does not emerge. He comes to a wolf which sucks 
in people. He allows himself to be drawn, and then cuts the wolf's heart. He 
comes to a woman who has a dish which draws people into it and then consumes 
them. He turns into a feather, which l)lows over the dish. Then he causes the old 
woman to be drawn into the dish, and destroys it. He comes to a camp which is 
terrorized by a bull who gambles with people. Clotted-Blood wins, and, as they 
play, the Bull tries to kill him. Clotted-Blood turns to a feather, and is uninjured. 
Then he kills the Bull. He comes to a camp where a man kills people by making 
them fall from a swing into the water. Clotted-Blood escapes, and causes the man 
to fall into the water, but cannot make the water-monster in the river devour him. 
He allows himself to be swallowed by the monster, and kills it. Then he kills the 



/ 



/ 



\» 



134 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. I, 

man. He comes to a man who kills people by kicking them with his sharp leg. 
He causes him to stick fast in a tree, and leaves him to starve. He comes to a man 
who accepts young men as his sons-in-law, and then gives them dangerous tasks to- 
perform. Clotted-Blood is sent to get the morning star, and brings it. He is sent 
to a thicket where there are bears, and kills them. He is sent to get feathers from 
the thunder-birds, and abuses the Young Thunders. When the Old Thunders pur- 
sue him, he persuades them to pull his elastic arrow. They do so, and are dashed 
to death. Then he is sent to kill seven bulls for their sinews. They charge him, 
and break their horns. He allows the oldest to live, but kills the rest. He is sent 
to get flint from a falling cliff. He turns to a feather, and escapes. He is sent to 
get water. A water-monster draws him towards it. He cuts off its horns. Then 
his father-in-law attacks him, but cannot hit him. Clotted-Blood kills the old man, 
and burns him. 

21. Moox-Child. 

The Sun and the Moon dispute about the beauty of women. The Sun marries 
the Frog. The Moon turns to a porcupine, and induces a woman to climb a tree 
after him. The tree stretches to the sky, and the Moon marries her. The mother-in- 
law of the two women gives them paunch to chew to see who can make the most 
noise. The. Frog chews charcoal, but is discovered. The Moon abuses the Frog, 
and the Sun throws her on the Moon's face, where she still remains, and takes the 
Moon's wife. The woman has had a boy. She looks through the hole in the sky, 
and sees the earth. She makes a long rope of sinew and lets herself down. The 
string is too short, and she hangs suspended. The Sun sees her. and drops a stone, 
which kills her. Her boy remains near her vmtil he is foimd by an old woman. 
She warns him not to go to a tent where there are pretty girls. He goes, and is 
well received. One of them turns to a snake and tries to enter his body, but is 
dashed to death against a rock under his seat. When the girls are asleep, he kills 
them. One escapes and turns to a snake, which threatens revenge. He comes 
to an old woman who wrestles with him. She nearly pushes him into the fire, but 
he kills her. His arrows warn him of the approach of the revengeful snake, but at 
last he does not wake up. The snake enters him. He lies still until he is only a 
skeleton. The snake is still in him. At last he asks the Moon to cause a cold rain. 
The snake crawls out. He gets up alive, and kills the snake. His mother comes- 
to life at the same time. 

22. The Boy who was raised by the Sevex Bulls. 

A girl who has had a lover abandons her child. It is found by Seven Bulls, 
who pity it and raise it. They kill buffalo for the boy. They instruct him to make 
a bow and arrows. When he is a young man, he comes to the herd of a powerful 
Bull. The Cows make love to the young man, and the Bull attacks him. His seven 
fathers attempt to protect him, but are disabled. The Bull charges the young man, 
but cannot hurt him, because he turns to a feather. Then he shoots the Bull, and 
cures his seven fathers. They send him to the people among whom his father and 
mother live. He comes to the camp, and recognizes his mother, who is playing ball. 
Her parents accept him as their grandson. Then he finds his father. 



1907.] Krocber, Gros Ventre Myths and Tales. 135 



23. White-Stone. 

Seven brothers go out, and are killed one after the other. Their sister swallows 
a stone, and gives birth to a boy who is called White-Stone. She swings the child 
on four sides of the tent, and he grows up. She makes him a bow and arrows. He 
goes where his uncles have gone, and kills a buffalo. An old woman claims it as 
hers, and orders him to carry it to her tent. Thus she had done with his uncles, 
and, when they had reached her tent, she had killed them with an iron cane. White- 
Stone makes her carry the bull, and then kills her with the cane. Putting his uncles 
into a tent, he shoots upward, and they emerge alive. He travels, and comes to a 
camp where there is a powerful, jealous, invulnerable bull. White-Stone approaches 
his wife, and the bull attacks him. The bull breaks his horns, and White-Stone 
kills him and burns him. 

24. The Women who married the Moon and a Buffalo. 

Two women lying outdoors at night wish for the moon and a star as husbands. 
One woman sees a porcupine, and follows it up a tree that stretches until she reaches 
the sky. There the Moon marries her. She is told not to dig certain roots, but 
does so, and sees the earth below. She becomes sad, and the Moon lets her down 
by a rope of sinew. The other woman is taken by a bull, who says that he is the 
star she wished for. A Gopher digs a long hole, and rescues the woman, leaving her 
robe. The Bull finds the empty robe, and pursues with the buffalo. The woman 
and her parents have fled, and climbed three cottonwood-trees. The Buffalo cut 
down two trees, but on the third break their horns. 

25. The Women who married a Star and a Buffalo. 

Two women wish for stars for husbands. One of them is married by a star. 
The other is taken away by a buffalo-bull. Her husband cannot rescue her. but the 
Gopher brings her back. Together with her husband, she takes refuge in a tree. 
The buffalo cut down the tree, and kill the man, and take her back. The Badger 
recovers her again. The Bull pursues. As he is invulnerable, he easily recovers 
the woman. The Bald Eagle seizes her, and succeeds in flying away with her. 

26. The Deserted Children. 

A camp abandons little children. The children come to an old woman. At 
night she kills them all, except a girl and her little brother. The girl is sent to get 
wood and water, and saves her life by bringing the kinds desired by the old woman. 
Coming out of the tent with her little brother, she leaves an awl in her place, and 
flees. The two children cross a river on a water-monster, but the old woman is 
drowned by it. The children return to the camp, but are left tied to a tree. A 
dog liberates them, and gives them fire. The boy kills buffalo by looking at them. 
In the same way he and the girl cut up the meat, dress the skins, erect a tent, and 
make clothing. The people, who are starving, come to the children, who select 
wives and husbands for themselves, and then kill the rest of the people by looking 
at them. 



I'. 



\ 



136 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. I, 



27. The Girl who became a Bear. 

Children are playing. One changes into a bear, and kills all except her little 
sister. She attacks and extenninates the camp, but allows her little sister to live 
with her. Her six brothers return, and find the camp deserted. They meet their 
little sister, and tell her to ascertain from the Bear how she can be killed. The 
little girl throws hot fat on the Bear, and flees with her brothers. The Bear pursues, 
but is killed by being shot in her little finger with an arrow of tendon. The brothers 
burn her body, but overlook one spark, which turns into the Bear again, and pursues 
them. Each of them makes an obstacle to delay the Bear. They make successively 
a swamp, a forest, a canyon, a river, a fire, and a cactus-thicket. When the Bear 
is near again, the little girl, by kicking a ball, causes her brothers and herself to 
rise to the sky and become stars. 

28. Shell-Spitter. 

Two girls come to marry Shell-Spitter. The Loon pretends that he is Shell- 
Spitter, and marries them. He is called to the dance-lodge. The girls follow, 
and see the real Shell-Spitter sitting in the lodge and the people dancing on the 
Loon. The Loon kills Shell-Spitter, and with his mother, Badger-Woman, escapes 
from the people. 

29. Yellow-Plume and Blue-Plume. 



' A boy follo\\"s his gaming-wheel to an old woman's tent. She tries to smother 

him in her tent, but fails. She sends him for water. He is supernaturally instructed 
what kind of water she desires, and the old woman allows him to live. He leaves, 
and abuses her. When she tries to pursue him, she steps on an awl which he has 
left. Together with his brother, he causes the water to rise, and drowns the old 
woman. 

30. The Swallows and the Snake. 

A snake or water-monster kills young swallows. The swallows bring birds of 
various species to help them, but the snake destroys them all. At last the thimder 
kills the snake. 

31. The Origin of the Tsooyanehi Degree of the Dog-dance. 

A dog is abandoned by a camp. An old man finds it and pities it. The dog 
pities the old man, and gives him the highest degree of the dog-dance to introduce 
among the people. 

32. The Origin of the Chief Pipe. 

A young man dies, and is left with all his property in his tent. A cloud descends, 
and takes away the tent and the property. The young man is seen alive, and beside 
him is the sacred pipe, the gift of the thunder. 

33. Separation of the Tribe. 

As the people cross on the ice, a little girl persuades her grandmother to chop 
off a horn that projects from the ice. The ice breaks, drowning many people, and 
forever separating the rest. 



1907.] Kroeber, Gros Yejitre Myths and Tales. 137 



34. The Cave of the Buffalo. 

A cave in a hill is the entrance to the home of the buffalo. Two men enter it, 
but do not reach the end, and return. 

35. The Womax and the Black Dog. 

Juvenis nocte mulierem cum cane nigro copulantem videt. ISIulieris virum 
certiorem facit, qui earn occidit. 

36. The Max borx from a Horse. 

Equa parit hominem qui quemdam virum patrem sibi esse significat. 

37. The Woman and the Horse. 

Two young men see a person running with a herd of wild horses. The people 
surround the herd, and capture the person. She tells them that she was carried 
off from the tribe by a stallion who married her, and that she has become a horse. 
The people release her. 

38. The Little Girl who avas married by a Bear. 

As a camp moves, a little girl is left Ijehind. A bear marries her, and .she 
becomes rich. The people are starving, and she gives them food. 

39. The Young Man who became a Water-monster. 

Two young men travel. They pass through a hollow mountain, and reach the 
country of the giants. The giants are attacked by birds, which overcome them 
until the young men drive off the birds. When the young men return, their way 
is blocked in the cave in the mountain by a water-monster's body. They burn 
through it. One of them, though warned by his companion, eats of the meat. 
He turns to a water-monster, and goes into the water. His friend becomes fortu- 
nate. 

40. The Woman who was recovered from a Water-monster. 

A man and a woman sleep outdoors. A water-monster surrounds them. They 
try to jump over it, but the woman sticks fast and is carried off. The man brings 
his child to the water, and his wife rises. When the water-monster comes to the 
surface, he shoots it. His wife has become half snake, but he restores her to human 
form in the sweat-house. 

41. The Man who killed H.vwks. 
A man kills haA\ks by pointing his hatchet at them. 

42. The Man who was killed by a Bullet-hawk. 
A man goes to take young hawks, but is killed by the old hawk. 



138 Anthropological Papers American Museum of Xatural History. [Vol. I, 

43. The Max who was killed by a Bald Eagle. 
A man tries to catch a bald eagle, but is carried up. by it, dropped, and killed. 

44. The Wo.man who tempted and betrayed her Brother-in-law. 

A man's wife persuades his younger brother to elope with her. They reach a 
deserted camp. A man returns to the camp to get his weapons which he has for- 
gotten. The young man gives him a smoke, and then leaps upon him. The woman, 
instead of helping her lover, tries to betray him to the stranger; but he succeeds in 
overcoming and killing his opponent. He returns to his older brother, and the 
woman is killed. 

45. The Woman who tried to betray her Brother-in-law. 

A woman tries to persuade her husband's younger brother to be her lover. He 
flees, and she follows him. They come to a deserted camp, to which a Ute returns. 
The Gros Ventre gives him a smoke, and then attacks him. The woman tries to 
betray him to the Ute. He succeeds in killing the Ute. They return to the camp, 
and the woman is killed. 

46. The Bad Wife. 

A woman is taken by the Crows. Her husband goes to the Crow camp with 
six companions. He finds his wife, and she persuades him to wait. Then she 
betrays him to the Crows. His companions are killed. His wife tells the Crows 
that he wishes to be hung. They hang him and abandon him. An old woman 
rescues him and sends him home. He returns with his tribe. They attack the 
Crows, who flee. The woman is captured and killed. 

47. The Man avho acquired Invulnerability. 

A man sacrifices pieces of his flesh from his whole body to snakes, bears, a 
water-monster, eagles, rabbits, buffalo, and horned toads. He becomes invul- 
nerable and wealthy. He goes to war, and his companions are killed. He cannot 
be killed. He is cut to pieces a number of times, but always comes to life and 
kills one of the enemy. At last he returns home. A boy is captured from the 
camp. The man offers to rescue him if he can have the boy's sister as wife. He 
finds the boy tied to the centre pole of the Cheyenne sun-dance lodge. He carries 
him off, but is caught. He persuades the Cheyenne to let him try to leap along 
seven buffalo-skulls without stumbling. He leaps from one to the other, and con- 
tinues running. He hides the boy and himself. Then he brings him back to his 
people, and marries the girl. He goes to kill buffalo, and his wife is captured and 
carried to the mountains. He follows, armed with nothing but a knife, finds the 
enemy's camp, kills one, drives away the rest, and returns with his wife. 

48. The Man who recaptured his Wife. 

A man's wife is captured. He enters the village of her captors at night, goes 
to her lodge, and, after he has cut her new husband's throat, flees with her. 



1907.] Kropber. Gros Ventre Mythfi and Tnies. 139 



49. The Woman who married the Snake Indian. 

A man lives alone with his wife and his sister. The girl has a tent to herself. 
A Snake Indian visits her at night. The man accepts him as his brother-in-law. 
The Snake lives with the Gros Ventre. Then he takes his wife to visit the Snakes. 
He appears very poor, and his wife is abused by the Snakes. Next day he shows 
himself in all his finery and wealth. Then he returns to the Gros Ventre, and is 
abused by them for his apparent poverty. The next day he reveals his increased 
wealth. The Gros Ventre and the Snakes make peace. 

50. The Woman who revenged her Brothers. 

Two brothers are killed. Their sister mourns. She goes to a mountain and 
fasts. The thunder gives her power. She sets out with her husband for the camp 
of the enemy. She entices one of the killers of her brothers away from the camp, 
and cuts his throat. Then she flees with her husband. The enemy attack the 
camp four times. Each time she drives them off. Then she will fight no more. 



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